Remnants
by Xylobones
Summary: Mercury has always worked in a lively but small club in downtown Iacon as a waitress. She likes her life - simple, steady, under control, but a her perception of physical chaos has appeared in the form of a green mech named Gearshift. Oh, joy.
1. Club Venus

**I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!**

**Well hey howdy hey, boys and girls! I'm back with the next instalment of my Flash Bang series! However, a departure from the norm, this one isn't about Flash Bang! Well, not for the most part at least ;D Anyway, I'm sorry for the long gap between this and Fractures - I had been planning to start posting sooner, but then I was like "hey, didn't I finish Fragments last Valentine's Day? Why yes, yes I did! Let's start the new one on Valentine's Day this year as a sort of anniversary!"**

**So, now you know the story, let's begin with Remnants - the tale behind Mercury and Gearshift :)**

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><p><span>Remnants<span>

Chapter One: Club Venus

It was a usual evening. Mercury was running from one side of the club to the other, tray in one servo, spray bottle of cleaning fluid in the other. Her support servos were aching and she was irritated at the rather tightly packed crowd of patrons making it impossible to move from table to table in order to clean them for the next over energised group of customers.

It was Amateur Singer hour, something unique to the club that Mercury enjoyed, not to see bots making a fool of themselves, but to see what up-and-coming talent might be on the horizon. If there was one thing she liked, it was being in the know. A femme was onstage at that moment. She was bright pink with optics shielded by a visor, and her voice was astounding! Mercury couldn't quite remember the femme's name. It was Luna, or something similar.

Mercury skirted the outer edge of the club, avoiding flailing limbs and over energised mechs as they moved to the sound of the song in the closest thing resembling rhythm that they could manage. Mercury ducked and weaved between the inebriated bar patrons until she reached the neon-lit bar, behind which stood a tall navy blue mech who had an oddly stoic disposition for someone who worked in a club. He held a cloth in one servo, which he was using to clean an empty Energon cube whilst he waited for the intoxicated rabble before him to move along so he could serve the next customer. Mercury went behind the bar and set down her tray.

"That's it for me," she huffed. "Anything need doing before I head home?" Before the bartender could reply, the stage manager came bursting out of the door to the back of the club.

"Bless my spark, Mercury! You're still here!" she gasped, charging over to the waitress. "One of my femmes hasn't shown up for the big dance tonight! Could you step in for her?"

"_Me?" _Mercury asked, astonished. "But I don't dance!"

"True, but you can easily download it from one of the others," the stage manager replied, waving it off. "The performance may not be as genuine as the others' will be, but it ought to do."

Mercury looked at the other femme for a moment, uncertainty on her faceplate, but the stage manager's warm yet pleading smile won her over.

"Fine," she said finally. "But don't expect it to become a regular thing. I don't want to be a dancer."

"I know, sweetie," the stage manager replied. "Managerial duties are _your _thing."

"They _will _be," Mercury corrected, pointedly.

It had been decided long ago that Mercury had natural talent at handling just about anything, whether it be people or things or entire businesses. For a whole orbital cycle, Mercury had run the club essentially alone, with only the steadfast assistance of the bartender to help her. It had been a rough orbital cycle, but it had been worth it for the respect she earned from her co-workers. Not to mention the credits. Lots and lots of credits. Not that she was greedy.

Mercury followed the stage manager through to the backstage rooms where all the dancers were readying themselves with easily attachable decorations on their armour. Metal feathers, fine ribbon-like chains, strings of glittering lights and other such things hung from their chassis in pretty displays of elegance. The stage manager quickly set to adorning these items onto Mercury's purple and silver armour, waving over another dancer to have them link up and share the routine. Before it had really struck her that she was about to go on stage, Mercury was ready to go.

"Oh, doesn't she look _darling?"_ one dancer cooed as if to a sparkling. Mercury shifted uncomfortably on the spot, gently tugging the decorations to see if they'd come off easily. Her servos were slapped into behaving quite quickly, however.

"They're easy enough to remove, Mercury," the stage manager said. "But don't touch them until your dance is done!"

Mercury was shoved out onto the stage with the other femmes. The curtain was still down, giving her a few more seconds of obscurity. She tried to gather her nerve. She had nothing to worry about, really, the dance was saved into her memory and she had only to follow it. She looked at the other dancers. They looked bored, if anything. She tapped her digits against her things, prompting one of the other dancers to throw her a smile and say, "Don't worry about a thing, you'll be fine."

Mercury did not feel fine.

All too soon, the curtains opened, and before she could think, her support servos were moving to the beat.

_Left, right, twirl, leap, bend, stretch, jump, spin._

It came surprisingly naturally to Mercury, although she could feel the falseness to her movements. She felt as if she were forcing this, making it happen against its will. But at the same time, it felt exhilarating! Every twirl, every leap sent a little rush through her that almost made her shiver with joy each time. She loosened up, enjoyed it, became happier with the flow and beat and ignored the fact that she shouldn't have been there, on that glittering stage in front of hordes of mechs and femmes too over energised to truly enjoy what they were honoured to see. It almost felt cruel when the music stopped and the dance came to an end. She wanted so badly to continue!

A loud, drunken round of applause erupted from before her. The other femmes bowed, so did Mercury. The other femmes waved to the crowd in thanks, so did Mercury. The other femmes blew kisses to the lone mechs watching them, so did Mercury. She felt as if she had always been a part of this. The other dancers flashed her grins whenever they caught her optic, and she grinned back. Everyone seemed pleased by her performance, most of all the stage manager.

"Oh, spark, you _lifesaver, _Mercury!" she cried, hugging Mercury around the shoulders. "I cannot express how happy I am to have you working here! You _never _cease to amaze me!"

Mercury's faceplate heated up in embarrassment. "You're too kind. Really, I mean that literally. I did nothing special."

"Mercury, you danced wonderfully for somebot with no prior performing experience!" the stage manager insisted. "I've organised an extra payment of credits for you as thanks. And don't tell me you don't want them, you're _having _them whether you like it or not!"

Mercury was at a loss of what to say, so she just relaxed her entire chassis and bowed her cranial unit slightly. "Thank you, Sol. I won't forget this."

"Neither will I," Sol replied with a wink. "Go home now, Mercury. You need some rest after this hectic night."

Mercury did go home, but she didn't rest. Not right away, at least. Instead, she powered up her music player and danced until the early hours of the morning.

* * *

><p>"<em>And stay out!" <em>the bouncer yelled as he threw Gearshift out of the back door to The Circle. Gearshift's armour screeched loudly as he slid across the ground, but without a hint of pain he stood up and brushed himself off, ignoring the large patch of scraped-off paint on his chest.

"Didn't want to work as some stupid _cleaner _anyway," he shot back at the bouncer, but he'd already gone back inside. He turned around to head out of the back alley and back to the main road, but his path was blocked by a familiar figure.

"Get out of my way, Lockdown," Gearshift hissed. Lockdown didn't move.

"Ya get what ya deserve, ya know," the other mech said. "Ya shouldn'ta been stealin' their oil if ya actually wanted ter keep yer job."

"Oh, come _on, _have you _seen _their prices?" Gearshift protested. "Even with the staff discount, I couldn't afford it!"

"So why not just go someplace else fer yer regular inebriatin'?" Lockdown asked, pointedly. "Ya know, someplace _cheap?"_

Gearshift waved him off, uninterested in having an argument after losing his only job, as "demeaning" as he thought it was. "I don't much care. Are the guys going out tonight?"

"Maybe," Lockdown replied. "Can't imagine ya got the credits ter pay fer any drinks, though."

Gearshift smirked. "I may have a little more stashed away than you think, Lockdown."

Lockdown rolled his optics. "Ever'one is off ter that Club Venus, in the downtown, ya know? The one with the real pretty dancers?"

"Club _Venus?" _Gearshift repeated. "Kind of gives out the wrong impression, wouldn't you say?"

"It ain't a _femmes'_ club, Gearshift," Lockdown replied, tersely. He began walking down the alley, "Ya comin' or not?"

"Yeah, I'm coming," Gearshift replied, chasing after him.

Gearshift may have worked as a cleaner in The Circle, but that had never sated his appetite for Iacon's impressive range of bars, clubs, venues and the like. Every night, he'd go somewhere with his friends, get over energised and then come up with a terrible excuse for being late to work the next solar cycle. His superiors had been sick of him, and by the time they'd discovered his string of oil thefts, they'd already had enough of him. The termination of his job had been certain.

Lockdown slung an arm over his friend's green shoulders. "It'll be fun, Gearshift. Maybe ya'll get a dancer to give ya a kiss ter cheer ya up?"

"I doubt they're all loose hussy bots," Gearshift replied. "But maybe I'll get lucky..."

A small group of bots was stood waiting at the end of the alley, talking amongst themselves loudly. They waved to the approaching pair, shouting Gearshift's name loudly in a chant.

_Gearshift got his aft kicked out,_

_Of The Circle where it's all about,_

_Now he's left without his job,_

_Off to a party with this noisy mob!_

Gearshift rolled his optics. His friends had an odd synchronised ability with performance. All they needed was a ringmaster and they'd be a hit! There were four of them, three mechs and a femme, and none of them had a particularly favourable reputation. They were more Lockdown's friends than Gearshift's, and Lockdown had once admitted to only spending time with them because one of them, Wildrider, was his cousin, but Gearshift enjoyed their company well enough when in the mood for them.

"Ter Club Venus, then?" Lockdown called out, raising an arm in celebration. "Shift here needs cheerin' up!"

The four jogged over to where Gearshift stood, surrounding him and raising him above their cranial units. "ONWARDS!" they cheered together, carrying the bewildered green mech down the road. Lockdown, grinning with mirth, followed them closely.

Club Venus had a vivid neon sign above the doorway that showed a femme dancing with a mech underneath where the club's name was written in equally vivid neon. Lockdown jogged to the front of the crowd, holding the door open for the four rowdy bots and their emerald captive. A pair of burly bouncers stood at the inner door, looks of distaste on their faceplates.

"Put him down, mechs," one said. Gearshift was dropped with a thud, but one of the bots broke rank and stormed up to the bouncer, raising a digit threateningly.

"Who you calling a _mech?" _she screeched. "Do you need your optics fixing? I happen to know a good doctor..."

"Drag Strip, back off," one of the others said. Drag Strip turned to face him.

"Same goes for _you_, Wilderider," she hissed. But the big mech waved her off.

"So, we goin' in or what?" Lockdown huffed. The bouncers gave them a final once over before opening the doors for them.

"The slightest bit of trouble and you're all out," one of them said, glaring at Lockdown as he led the way in. Lockdown just smirked, rudely.

Inside Club Venus it was a low light, loud music affair, with a stage currently hidden by curtains. A space was reserved between the many tables for dancing, with a huge disco ball hanging above it that reflected specks of light in all different colours around the space. Gearshift wolf whistled at the sight.

"And yet it's The Circle that's the top club in Iacon..." he murmured.

"Ah, come on, Shift, The Circle has everything on this place," another of the gang retorted. Gearshift was clearly unimpressed by the other mech's statement, which was only picked up on by Lockdown.

"Leave it, Breakdown," he spat. "How 'bout I punch yer faceplate fer every time ya mention that place?"

"I'd have to say that what luck I had had finally run out," Breakdown replied quietly, backing away slightly. As he did so, he walked into a table which went crashing to the floor. He, too, ended up sprawled out on top of it. The others fell about laughing. Well, apart from the last of the group – Dead End. He never laughed.

A pair of waitress appeared behind them and started cleaning up the mess, helping Breakdown to his support servos and assuring him that no damage had been done. Breakdown smiled awkwardly at them as they cleaned up, half trying to brush it off, half trying to score a femme. They finished their work and moved along without a second glance at him.

"Fail," Wildrider quipped with a smirk. Breakdown huffed and folded his arms.

There was a pause in the music and the curtains around the stage were drawn to an immense round of applause. A band of nine dancers were stood on stage, each one either pink or pearlescent silver-white in armour colour. Gearshift's optics fell on one of the white femmes, a dainty little thing witch, on closer inspection, had the faintest of pink patches down her waist and the insides of her upper arms and thighs. She was in the direct centre of the stage, a red bleed highlighting her pink accents. She was very, _very _attractive to the ragtag mechs Gearshift was surrounded by.

"She's a pretty little thing, ain't she?" Lockdown murmured quietly to Gearshift, nudging him in the side. Gearshift wasn't about to disagree, particularly when the femme literally kicked off the dance by kicking her leg into the air as the music began, taking the momentum gained into a three-sixty spin. The other dancers leapt away from her, spiralling in sequence with flawless movements. The lead dancer remained in the centre, moving her body in time with the music. As the dance went on, the circle she was stood in rose higher than the rest of the stage, bringing focus to her. The spotlights moved to her, lighting up her shimmering armour and creating a disco ball effect that rivalled that of the actual disco ball over the dance floor. It was almost unfair when the music ended and she stopped dancing.

"Got to have a bit of that," Gearshift whispered. Lockdown sighed mockingly and rolled his optics.

"Yer gonna go after her?" Lockdown smirked. "Shift, she's _way _outta yer league!"

"As if," Gearshift chuckled. "I can have whoever I want."

"Yeah, we'll see abou' that," Lockdown replied.

The dancers bowed and waved to the audience, at which point Gearshift began to pick his way through the crowd to get right up to the stage. He caught the optic of the lead dancer, giving her the most charming smile he could muster. She smiled back with a smile that she had clearly practiced time and time again, the sort of grin a performer gives an audience, one that doesn't really mean anything. Gearshift waved her over, but she put a servo up in polite refusal. But Gearshift was persistent. Before Lockdown could move to stop him, _or_ encourage him, he walked to the far side of the stage, where the dancers were disappearing into the backstage rooms.

"Hey," he called to her. "Great show! How long have you been dancing?"

"Long enough," she called back, trying to get away.

"Now what do you mean by that?" Gearshift replied, trying to catch her out. "Long enough to get any mech you want?"

She put a servo on her hip. "No, long enough to learn to stay away from the likes of _you."_

That caught Gearshift off guard. Without realising he was really doing it, he vaulted onto the stage and caught the femme between himself and the wall closest to her. His servos were on either side of her cranial unit and his all too gentle grin was far too close to her faceplate.

"What the Pit are you _doing?" _she demanded. Never had such a boisterous bot done this to her, or to any other femme at Club Venus. She was utterly taken aback and with no idea of what to do.

"Gearshift," Lockdown called out, his tone warning.

"So how about it, femme? You, me, a little privacy. Could be on Pit of a show..." Gearshift began to lean into her faceplate, but was stopped by burgundy servos pulling him away.

"Gearshift, tha's enough!" Lockdown yelled. Gearshift just pushed him back, only to be punched square in the faceplate. Gearshift took the blow and hit back with twice the force, sending Lockdown back a few steps. But he charged at Gearshift once again, knocking him sprawling on the stage floor. The dancers began to scream in panic, running for cover in the backstage rooms. Gearshift got back to his feet and tackled Lockdown, but the bigger mech just kicked him back off. Before he could make another move, the bouncers were there, holding Gearshift back. Another mech, the bartender, hoisted Lockdown to his support servos, keeping a tight grip on his arm.

"Thanks for trying to help, kid," he said. "But it looks like your friend is a little too good at this for you to handle."

The stage manager appeared, demanding to know what was going on. The bartender filled her in, after which she narrowed her optics at the two bots presented to her.

"Keep a hold of the green one, I want to see that he apologises to Twirl," the yellow femme demanded. "As for Spiky over there, thank you for defending my dancer, but you _did _start the fight."

"Say n'more, ma'am," Lockdown replied. "I wasn't planning on staying long, anyways."

Lockdown was escorted out of the club, followed closely by Wildrider (who had misunderstood the situation and tried to defend his cousin as he was led to the door), Drag Strip (who was itching for a fight), and Breakdown (who was unlucky enough to be holding an Energon cube in just the right place to throw it over one of the bouncers as they pushed him out the way). Dead End followed out behind them silently. He didn't want to stay in the club, with _or _without his companions. Gearshift was pushed into a seat by the bar where the bartender could watch him. One of the waitresses found a cloth to clean the tiny amount of mech fluid dripping down his chin.

"Not seen a bot so stupid," another waitress said as she deposited her tray behind the bar. "What did you think you were doing?" She was purple and silver and possessed an aura of "don't mess with me" that caught Gearshift's attention before he even laid optic on her. She was good-looking, too. Not the sort of good-looking that the dancers were, but the sort of good-looking that you really could... respect. Gearshift found he couldn't take his optics off her. She caught his gaze after a moment. "Looks like his friend hit him a little _too _hard." She waved a servo in front of his optics. "Anybot home?"

Gearshift shook away his stare. "Uh, sorry," he said quickly. "I think he knocked something loose."

"Looks that way," she replied, lightly backhanding the bartender on the arm when he barked a short laugh out. "How do you feel?"

"A little dizzy, I'll admit," Gearshift answered. Putting a suave expression on, he asked, "What's a pretty femme like you doing behind the bar?"

She rolled her optics. "Seriously?" Gearshift's optics widened as he realised she was insulted.

"Uh, no! I didn't mean it like _that!" _he insisted, trying to cover for himself. Everything the femme did brimmed with tenacity, something he'd never really seen in a femme in a bar before. She smirked at him and turned to get some drinks prepared.

"So, uh, what's your name?" he asked her, trying to regain his composure.

She didn't answer him.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, anyway, No Name," Gearshift replied. "My name's Gearshift." He paused a moment. "So, how about a drink?"

She turned, holding a cube of Energon. Without a word she placed it in front of him, so firmly that Gearshift thought the cube would shatter in her servo. It didn't.

"That'll be eight credits," she said, an edge in her voice.

"I meant-" Gearshift began, but she walked away before he could finish. She knew what he'd meant anyway, and wasn't interested. Gearshift just slumped over the bar, the stern optics of the bartender leaving him for only the most necessary reasons, which were few and far between. He could make most drinks without looking.

A megacycle or so later, the brilliant yellow stage manager came over to the bar, the offended dancer cowering behind her. No Name had returned to the bar, cleaning glasses and wiping down the polished surface. It was getting quiet now, with the only remaining patrons being in a drunken recharge on their tables with half-empty drinks in their servos. The stage manager was leading the dancer by the servo to the bar. No Name noticed them before Gearshift did.

"Sol isn't a pushover, you know," she murmured to Gearshift. "You're in deep slag here. You were horrible to Twirl and she's unspeakably precious to Sol."

"Great," Gearshift grumbled. "Any tips?"

"Don't try to please her by being suave," she replied. "Be a gentlemech and make a point of how sorry you "truly" are."

Sol approached the bar, her optics fiery and her movements hostile. Never had Gearshift found himself cowering from a femme before. The dancer, Twirl, on the other servo, was staring intently at the floor, her optics never straying from the neon lit metal below her support servos as she was towed along. She cast a nervous glance at Gearshift, looking back down as soon as her optics came to his pale green faceplate. Sol pulled her Twirl to stand by her side.

"How dare you," Sol hissed at Gearshift.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry," Gearshift said, forcing his voice to sound earnest. "I really don't know what came over me."

Twirl looked at him, her faceplate still angled downwards. Sol's faceplate didn't change.

"I don't care what you claim," Sol spat.

"Look, um, Twirl, is it? I really am sorry," Gearshift pleaded, turning to the pink and white femme. "Honestly, I've had a bad solar cycle. I don't want to make it bad for someone else, too. Forgive and forget? I'll do whatever I can to make up for my stupidity."

Twirl seemed convinced, a small smile appearing on her face, but Sol clearly wasn't impressed by Gearshift's little speech.

"I don't want to see your faceplate in here ever again, understand?" Sol spat. No Name put an empty cube down just loudly enough to get the attention of all involved.

"If I may," she began. "Sol, he really does seem sorry, and Twirl looks to agree." Twirl nodded, a tiny smile on her faceplate. "So why not let him make up for his mistake, rather than just kick him out? Who knows, maybe we'll actually be able to teach him a thing or two."

Sol didn't seem interested in taking up No Name's idea to begin with, but after a moment her harsh scowl softened into a thoughtful frown.

"Fine, I'll give you a chance," she said coldly. "Once a decacyle, I want you in here. Any good at cleaning? You're going to do a lot of it."

"I'm going to be a _cleaner? _Are you _serious?" _But a quick glare from No Name told him to shut up before he got in any more trouble.

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><p><strong>Long chapter is looooooooong .<strong>

**I hope you all enjoyed :) I've been looking forward to this one. **

**Updates will be regular on Mondays as usual, and hopefully I'll be able to stick to that - I have a job which takes up a LOT of my time nowadays.**

**Also! For those of you who like video games and LOLing at people who fail at video games, I've started to do "Let's Play" videos on YouTube. Type "LozMidgley" into the YouTube search and you should find me :) My vids all start with "A Girl Plays" so be on the look out for that :)**

**Lastly, please review!**

**:D**


	2. Bad Liar

**I've missed this ^^**

**Enjoy :D**

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><p><span>Chapter Two: Bad Liar<span>

Gearshift was leant against the wall by the backdoor of Club Venus, watching as the waitresses and dancers filed out. The club was closed, the neon sign over the front door turned off and clicking from time to time as the neon tubes cooled down. Gearshift was tired. At The Circle he'd found ways of getting out of most of the work, but at Club Venus, with the scrutinising gaze of Sol and the bartender forever on his back, he never found chance to hide away for a time.

Finally, the last of Club Venus' staff came out of the door. She was alone and didn't even give Gearshift a second glance as she passed him. Gearshift frowned at that.

"Hey, No Name," he called out to her. She stopped in her tracks, trying to stop herself from dropping her shoulders.

"What do you want?" No Name demanded, not turning around. Gearshift jogged over to her, standing between her and the gate that stood between the back of Club Venus and the rest of Iacon. Her faceplate was the picture of annoyed, but he seemed rather jovial, regardless.

"I never got your name, _No Name," _he replied.

She put her servos to her hips. "That may be because I didn't want you to," she replied.

"Well, I can't keep calling you No Name, can I?" he retorted, trying to be charming and failing badly.

Before No Name could reply, another member of staff dashed out of the door, lagging behind and late for an appointment on the other side of Iacon. Before either Gearshift or No Name could react, she called out, "Night, Mercury!"

Mercury finally let her shoulders drop, a scowl directed at the fleeing waitress forming on her faceplate. Gearshift smirked, one eye ridge raised.

"So, _Mercury," _he began. "I wanted to apologise."

"It's not me you're supposed to be apologising to," she spat. She'd had enough and so tried to pass by him, but he was surprisingly swift and agile, and managed to block her once more.

"I know, but I feel I ought to," he continued. "I've been nothing but rude all night, and you were trying to help me out when – Sol, is it? – when Sol was coming at me with violent intent."

Mercury rolled her optics, "Sol's not violent, she's just easy to offend. Anyway, if you'd kindly get out of the way."

But Gearshift wouldn't move. "I'll walk you home," he declared.

"No you won't," Mercury spat back. This time, when she tried to pass by Gearshift, she used her developing dancing technique to outmanoeuvre him, passing through the gate and being sure to lock it before he could catch her up again.

"Hey!" Gearshift yelled as she fastened the lock. She smirked cruelly at him and walked away down the street.

But Gearshift was not easily locked in. He took a step back, ran and jumped at the wall, using it to propel himself over the fence, landing gracefully on the other side. But Mercury had already gone, missing his impressive display of acrobatic talent.

* * *

><p>A pattern soon began to form. Every night after working his shift, once a decacycle without fail, Gearshift would wait by the back door for Mercury. Every time he'd try a different tact to get her to talk to him, from simply asking her about her day to showing off his natural talent in acrobatics. In the case of the latter, she did little other than tell him to join the circus before locking him in again. He managed to get a little bit more out of her every day, even if "a little bit more" was nothing other than how much he annoyed her, explained in a variety of ways using varying amounts of colourful language. But then one night, he began with a fact about himself.<p>

"I used to work at The Circle."

It caught her off guard at first. It was a little known secret that Mercury had ambitions relating to The Circle. She told those who knew of her interest in the club that she wanted to work as a manager there, but those who _really _knew her – who were few and far between – knew that, deep down, she just wanted to see it inside.

Gearshift's claim was too intriguing to simply ignore.

"As if a bot like you has ever worked there," she replied. Gearshift smirked, he'd hooked her. Now to reel her in.

"I know you don't like me, but that doesn't mean that everything I say has to be a lie," he replied. She shrugged.

"You're not wrong there," she replied. "But there's you being honest, and then me being bothered enough to care about finding out if you're telling the truth or not."

"Well, regardless of whether you believe me or not, I _did _work at The Circle," Gearshift replied, trying to smother his mirth with an earnest tone. It _was _true, after all.

"So why don't you anymore?" Mercury answered. She began walking towards the gate, but rather than lock him in behind it, she held it open for him. He stepped through with an honest smile on his faceplate.

"I was a bouncer," he lied. "But I was too hard on the ruffians, you know? _I_ got chucked out for chucking _other_ bots out."

Mercury almost certainly didn't believe him, but she played along. "Alright, I'll humour you. Did you get fired over a single bot, or did you gain a track record?"

"Just one bot, but I doubt you'll know him," Gearshift replied offhandedly. "He was called Makeshift."

"Doesn't ring any bells," Mercury admitted.

"Didn't think so, he has a habit of blending in," Gearshift replied. "Though I managed to pick him out of the crowd from the other side of the club." As he said this, he balled his servos into fists and pretended to punch an invisible opponent.

Mercury wasn't convinced. "I see. So they kicked you out for doing your job?"

"Well," Gearshift began sheepishly, rubbing the back of his cranial unit. "I may have been a little _too _hard on the mech. Think I damaged his optic or something. Either way, I got one Pit of a big medical bill a few days later."

"For an optic repair?"

"I think it may have been more than that..." Gearshift pressed. Mercury decided he was a bad liar, but didn't say anything. The two remained silent for a moment before Mercury realised she didn't want Gearshift following her home. But she was quick to come up with an excuse.

"I have some things to do before I go home, so I'll leave you here," she said. Gearshift looked a bit surprised, which quickly became tainted by the slightest bit of hurt. Did he really want to see her home? "See you next decacycle, I guess."

That last remark seemed to cheer up his brief feeling of rejection. He gave her a truly pleasant grin and bid her goodnight before sauntering off down an alley. Mercury sighed in relief, but couldn't help the feeling that she didn't have to push him away like she had. Either way, she held the feeling back and headed home, taking an unusual route just in case the green mech decided that next decacycle wasn't soon enough.

* * *

><p>"<em>Merc, we need you on stage again," <em>Sol said over the tele-communicator.

"Is one of the femmes out of action?" Mercury asked. Sol sighed and nodded.

"_Moonracer chose first thing this morning to be when she decided dancing isn't here thing,"_ she explained. _"We may need you for more than one show."_

"Are you serious?" Mercury moaned. "You know I hate dancing on stage!"

"_But you're so good!" _Sol replied. _"And I know you've been practising. The way you walk has changed."_

"Teach me to be as observant as you and I'll do it," Mercury joked. Sol seemed to take it seriously.

"_We may just have a deal, Merc," _she grinned. _"Thank you. See you in a few."_

"Sol, I meant-" But she'd already signed off.

Mercury slouched back into the chair she was sat in, taking a sip of Energon and taking a moment to wonder why on Cybertron she seemed to be the only one with any sense of lasting responsibility. And what had Moonracer found to do that she enjoyed so much more than dancing?

Mercury still had some time before she had to leave for the club. She switched on the music system, letting the beats move her body to the rhythmic vibrations. She watched herself in the full wall mirror as she did so, observing herself and realising that she was indeed moving differently to how she had done once before. Perhaps learning observation skills from Sol wouldn't be such a bad thing?

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><p><strong>LucasVN - Yep :P<strong>

**Luna Prime- Awesomeness - maaaaybe ;) teehee ^^**

**Right, now I gotta go to work D:**

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	3. Let the Music Lead You

**Errrgh, I only just finished this xD**

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><p>Mercury was more confident this time, especially seeing as she was excused from her regular duties in order to practise with the other femmes. They all told her she was a natural, but to Mercury, dancing still felt alien. <em>Just relax, <em>they told her, _just let the music lead you. _But no matter how much she did or how much more confident she felt, she still felt out of place.

"Loosen up, Merc," Sol instructed. "Swing your hips a little more suddenly."

Mercury did so, jerking her hips to the right with the same servo resting on it, her other servo by her lip modules. She looked fabulous, she was told, but she didn't feel it.

Gearshift was at the club, but he wasn't allowed backstage. He had no idea that Mercury would be on stage that night and, if she could get her way, he'd be gone by the time she performed. Granted, he was meant to stay on until closing, but Mercury felt she might be able to persuade Sol to send him home early.

This wasn't the case.

"Oh _no, _Merc," Sol said. "He's gonna do the megacycles agreed. I know you don't like him, but what's wrong with him seeing you on stage?"

"I don't feel... comfortable... with him seeing me dance," Mercury admitted. "I don't know why. But if you can't send him home, can you at least get him doing something that won't have him near the stage?"

Sol smirked. She'd seen this before. "I'll do what I can," she said with a wink. "No promises, though."

"Fine."

* * *

><p>"Gearshift!" Sol yelled. Gearshift was half in recharge in the storeroom, propped up on a mop that was slowly sliding out from under him. When her yells didn't wake him up, Sol decided to knock the mop out from under him, sending him clattering to the floor and waking him up completely and utterly.<p>

"Ow! Uh- wha-?" he stammered, scrambling around on the moist floor for grip. It took him a few cycles to get back to his support servos, but he managed it eventually. As always, Sol was not impressed.

"Recharging on the job? I may have to add on some extra megacycles..."

"I'm sorry, Sol," Gearshift replied, clearly not sorry in the least. "I've not been recharging well lately..."

"Excuses, excuses," Sol snapped, rolling her optics. "I need more than the floor cleaning in here. And I'll be sending someone to check on you from time to time to see you're not dozing off. And I don't just mean mopping the floors. I want to see everything in here organised properly – the Energon barrels are all over the place and there is a thick layer of dust over everything. Get it clean."

Gearshift frowned, but had learnt better than to complain. He arranged his equipment – mop, bucket, spray, cloth – into a one servo-grip, giving Sol a salute with the other. "Sure thing, boss." Sol rolled her optics and stormed back out without another word, leaving Gearshift to himself. He took the opportunity to continue his stasis nap.

* * *

><p><em>Left, right, twist, jump, cartwheel.<em>

This was a more intricate routine than the last, but Mercury could handle it. It was nearly time for Club Venus to open, and when the doors opened for the night, things would get a lot more tense. But Mercury felt a mild thrill in her as she moved about, spreading her arms and swaying her hips and skipping sideways and spinning on one support servo. The other femmes found themselves distracted by her from time to time, seeing how graceful she'd become. Mercury's faceplate heated up at the attention, but she tried not to let it show.

All too soon, the doors to Club Venus opened, and mechs and femmes from across Iacon flooded in. Mercury peeked out at the crowd from behind the stage curtains, terrified and exhilarated at the same time. She didn't know how she felt – she wanted to perform, and yet she felt a sickening dread at the prospect. Her digits curled around the silvery-purple curtain, which went so taught in her gri[p that the femmes watching her were worried she would pull it from the rail above. Sol put a servo to her shoulder.

"You should be less nervous this time," she pointed out. "You've had time to prepare."

"That's the problem," Mercury replied. "I've had time to get worried. Last time you just threw me onto the stage!"

Sol pretended to be offended. "Not so!" she replied with a cheeky grin. "Anyway, just chill out and enjoy it!"

Suddenly the curtains were up and Mercury was in position. It was an early show, unlike Mercury's first dance, which had been the last before closing time. The night had just begun for the mechs and femmes surrounding the stage, and they were clearly overjoyed to catch the show. Mercury preferred the drunken audience, they didn't care about a bad performance.

The music began and Mercury found herself moving to its beat. She didn't seem to be in control of herself, the movements just... _happened, _or so it seemed to her. It seemed natural. _Left, right, twist, jump, cartwheel. _It was as if the whole idea of dancing was hardwired into her circuitry – a part of her. A grin spread across her faceplate as she began to flow freely, moving and swaying and spinning to the beat. She felt so exhilarated!

The crowd cheered at the display, raising their arms and jumping to the beat of the music. Mercury was having the time of her life, so thrilled to be on the stage and happy to see that her performance was so well received. But then a green mech came out of one of the back rooms.

_Oh, slag! _Mercury thought as she saw Gearshift. _Don't look on stage, don't look on stage!_

But he did. His optics came straight to her, his mouth falling open at the sight of her dancing. She tried to ignore him, but couldn't help feeling those ever-staring optics on her. Why wasn't he doing what Sol had given him to do? He couldn't have finished already! But she forced herself to continue on as she had been doing, regardless. Was that a false step? She didn't know anymore, or care, she just wanted to finish now that Gearshift was watching.

But this was a long routine. The music carried on, the femmes continued to dance. Mercury forced herself not to care about the ever watching optics of Gearshift, who stood where he was, drinking in every movement she made. The other dancers didn't exist to him, it was just Mercury he watched.

Mercury's faceplate heated up as he continued to stare, but finally the music stopped and she could hide her faceplate behind a bow. The curtains closed and she dashed into the backstage area. The other femmes giggled at her, fully aware of why she had suddenly gone funny. They giggled and tittered and chuckled as Mercury flustered with her decorations, pulling them off and throwing them in a heap on the floor. She had to go, now, before Gearshift found his way to her. She ran from the backstage area to the club's backdoor, throwing it open and charging outside. But there he was, tall, green and a terrible attempt at a suave smile was spread across his face.

"Oh, frag," Mercury muttered.

"Great show," Gearshift said, approaching her. She began to step back towards the door, but when she tried the handle, giggles sounded from the other side. The other femmes were working against her!

"Gearshift, I really can't do this now-"

"I want to take you to The Circle."

He didn't say a word more, and the brief moment it took Mercury to process what he said was filled with possibilities of what could possibly transpire if she accepted. But then, she thought, it wasn't an offer, it was a statement. If he'd said "can I take you to The Circle?" _then _she would have had reason to get excited. But he simply said that he _wanted_ to take her.

"That's nice, but I have to go," she insisted. But he was persistent.

"Come on, I can get you inside," he told her. "We don't have to stay long if you need to get going, but you'll at least get to see it!"

"I really can't-"

"Please?"

He sounded so genuine in his plea that she stalled once more. She looked up at him, seeing something on his faceplate that she hadn't seen on it before. She could see a genuine desire to take her out – it was plain as solar cycle. But just because he wanted to take her out, it didn't mean that he didn't have other intentions. But it could be her only chance to see The Circle...

"Fine," she said after a while. "But I can't stay for more than a megacycle."

Gearshift nodded. "Understood," he said with a wink. "Come on, you don't have long before your next dance, do you?"

He cared?

* * *

><p>The outside of The Circle alone was a sight to see. Of course, Mercury had walked passed it before, but she'd never let herself stop to take a look at it properly. It was huge and glowing with lights of all colours, arranged into such varying and dazzling patterns that it was an astounding treat for the optics. But finding herself stood at the end of the walkway leading to it made her feel sick. She began to shake ever so slightly with anticipation. Was Gearshift having her on, or was she really about to step inside The Circle?<p>

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><p><strong>I didn't mean to leave this as a cliffhanger, but... <strong>

**...**

**I HAVE NO EXCUSE! D':**

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	4. Should Have Known Better

**I need to actually write these chapters _before _it's the day to upload them -.-**

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><p><span>Chapter 4: Should Have Known Better<span>

A huge, burly bouncer was stood outside the door. Gearshift gestured to Mercury to wait where she was, and then sauntered up towards him. The bouncer looked at him as if he was an idiot, clearly recognising him and not being at all impressed by his sudden appearance.

"What are _you _doing here?" he demanded. Gearshift just smiled.

"Here for a night out with a lovely femme," he replied, nodding his cranial unit in mercury's direction. "Pretty, isn't she? You're not going to turn her away, surely?"

"Do you know this mech?" the bouncer called to Mercury.

"Vaguely," Mercury replied, stepping closer. "He's been working at Club Venus these past few stellar cycles."

"So that's where you've been, Shifty?" the bouncer replied. He had a gruff voice and clearly didn't like Gearshift. "You been stealing oil from there, too?"

"What?" Mercury demanded. Gearshift tried to regain control of the situation.

"Uh- haha! You joker, you always were the funny one!" he said, trying to act natural. "Did you ever get that comedy gig?"

"Get out of here, Gearshift," the bouncer spat. "Boss won't be happy you're here..."

"What's this about stealing oil?" Mercury demanded again.

"We kicked him out for two reasons," the bouncer said before Gearshift could reply. "He didn't do his job, and he stole oil from the storeroom."

"You're a _thief?" _Mercury hissed, turning to Gearshift. "I knew you were a lazy good for nothing, but a _thief _too?"

"No, Mercury-"

"I knew you were a waste of time!" she shrieked. She turned around and stormed off down the street. Gearshift was left confused for a moment, but then turned back to the bouncer.

"Thanks, slagger!" he yelled. He turned and followed after Mercury.

The purple femme didn't look back as she stalked down the street, ignoring Gearshift's cries as he followed after her. She should have known better than to go to The Circle, as if he could have got her in. But it _was _true that he had worked there, it seemed. Not that she cared right then.

"Mercury, _please, _will you just... stop?" Gearshift yelled. She continued to blank him, but found herself at her own front door. He'd followed her all the way home. He _knew _where she lived.

"I'm sorry," he said, coming up to her. He hadn't realised they'd arrived at her home; he thought she'd stopped because he'd asked her to. "That bouncer, he's a real joker. He didn't mean a word of what he said – all jokes and tell tales, you know? Seriously, come back to The Circle with me and -"

Before he could say another word, she turned around and backhanded him across the faceplate. "If you have any sense of respect, you'll frag off and leave me alone." Gearshift looked at her, stunned and with a servo to his faceplate. He didn't seem to understand what had just happened. "You're a pathetic little _liar, _Gearshift. Frag off and don't talk to me _ever _again!"

Gearshift turned and ran back down the street, not wanting to anger the femme further. She wasn't sure if he'd do as she demanded, but his seemingly fearful running suggested he would. She stood there, watching him flee, her servos balled into fists so hard that it hurt her digits. Once he was gone, she turned and entered her home.

* * *

><p>"You've been looking lately down, Merc," the bartender said suddenly. A decacycle had passed, with Gearshift not turning up for his shift. The bartender was cleaning glasses as usual, most of the evening's rabble having gone. Mercury was tired and wanted to call it a night, having danced again and spent the rest of the evening running around after the customers. An unusually lively bunch had come in that night – racers by the look of them. They drank and drank and didn't stop, but they didn't ever become energised – they burned through the Energon so quickly that it had no lasting effect! Mercury had to serve them and do little else for the best part of three megacycles. But for the entire night, nothing she'd done had been with her usual attitude, and <em>everyone <em>had noticed.

"What's wrong?" the bartender added when Mercury didn't reply. She was wiping down the bar, not looking at anything in particular. But at the bartender's prompt, she spoke.

"Nothing's wrong," she lied. "I'm just exhausted."

"You look a little more than exhausted to me," he replied. "What did that mech Gearshift say to you?"

Mercury threw down her cloth, rested her elbows on the bar and held her cranial unit. "He said he could get me into The Circle and... uhg! I was an idiot and believed him."

The bartender put a servo on her shoulder. "You don't learn if you don't make mistakes, understand?"

"I know that," Mercury replied. "But it doesn't stop me from feeling like an idiot."

"Well, I wouldn't say you are," the bartender said, not in a way that was meant to comfort her, but in a way that was to make a point. "You've wanted to go The Circle for as long as I've known you, and you saw a chance. Just because it _did _end badly, doesn't mean that it almost certainly would have. If someone other than Gearshift was to offer to take you, you may have got in. Take Gearshift out of the equation and you've got endless possibilities in regards to what could have happened."

"You're either speaking nonsense or just pointing out that Gearshift is a liar," Mercury replied.

"Or both." They laughed and Mercury finally smiled, a little happier, having vented to a friend. One of the other waitresses came bounding up to them then, her tray hander her arm and a slightly puzzled look on her faceplate.

"Some mech's here to see you," she began. Mercury picked her cloth back up just so she could throw it down again.

"Green and white?"

"No, green and _black," _the waitress said, "and coveredin spikes. I've never seen anything like him before!"

"Green and _black?" _Mercury repeated, looking at the bartender.

"Sounds like Gearshift's friend – the one who beat him up over Twirl," he said. Mercury frowned slightly. What was _he _doing at the club?

"Where is he?" she asked. The waitress led the way to him.

Lockdown was stood in the same place that Gearshift usually occupied – leant against the wall by the club's back door. He was looking bored as he stared off into the distance, but as soon as Mercury stepped out, he became more alert, albeit still seemingly bored.

"And you're here because...?" Mercury asked. Lockdown angled himself to face her.

"Gearshift wants ter apologise," he began. "He's been real depressed since the other night, mopin' about and not sayin' much at all."

"Well, that's a shame," Mercury hissed. "Not that I care. Tell him to glitch out and rust in pieces."

"'Ere, I know ya don't like 'im, but Gearshift is mah friend and as unusual as it is for me to give a frag, I hate ter see 'im in this way," Lockdown said, his voice thick with resentment at having to admit to actually _caring. _"He wants ter apologise, but he knew ya wouldn't come out if he came alone."

"Alone?"

Gearshift appeared then, coming out from around a corner. He was looking at his support servos, not wanting to look at her but at the same time finding it hard not to. Mercury narrowed her optics at him, but then he spoke.

"Mercury, I'm really sorry," he began. "I shouldn't have told you that I could get you into The Circle. It was stupid of me, and all I really wanted to do was impress you. You really want to go there, don't you? And I just dashed your hopes. I'm beyond an idiot, and I'm _sorry. _I should have told you about the oil, too. But I didn't want you to hate me. Although I guess I can't avoid that now._"_

_Well recited, _Mercury thought, but behind the rehearsed feel to his apology, he did seem sincere, as if he'd practised in order to get what he had wanted to say across perfectly. Gearshift didn't seem the type to improvise well. Mercury looked at him, her optics looking him over for any sign to suggest he was lying. Either Sol's lessons weren't working, or there was nothing to see.

"It's... okay, Gearshift," Mercury replied. "I'm not happy with you, but... you've apologised, and that's all I can ask of you."

Gearshift smiled, a little warily at first, but then with much more certainty when he saw the kindly expression on her faceplate.

"I want to make it up to you, _properly," _Gearshift said. "There's this amazing little restaurant near the Stellar Galleries. It's wonderful – you'll love it. And we _won't _get turned down because of me. I've not been since I was with my creators."

"Okay then," Mercury replied. "I finish in a megacycle."

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><p><strong>He's nice really :3<strong>

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	5. Scenic Route

**Phew, The AllSpark** **Almanac is my guiding light as I write this :3**

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><p><span>Chapter Five: Scenic Route<span>

Mercury was nervous. As always, it seemed. She paced about the club for the last megacycle of her shift, denying any comment that she had a crush on Gearshift.

"What has he done to make me like him?" she demanded. "He's annoyed me more than anything. Tonight is him apologising and all I'm worried about is the whole thing being awkward."

But the femmes all giggled as if they were still sparklings and continued to tease Mercury, offering to lend her some of the decorations the dancers wore to make herself look "pretty for her date". Mercury was on the verge of snapping, but held herself back.

A megacycle passed all too quickly, Mercury finding herself heading for the backdoor at a slower pace than usual. A group of femmes came bounding up behind her, catching up to her and pushing her on faster and then through the door. Mercury tried to stop herself being flung ouside, but was overcome by the femmes behind her.

Gearshift was surprised to see Mercury fly out of the door, rather than step out elegantly as she usually did. But he forced himself not to laugh. That wouldn't be a good start to the evening. She didn't quite fall over, but she stumbled dramatically and had to grab for something to hold onto, which ended up being Gearshift.

"Oh!" Mercury gasped as she was caught by his strong servos and brought upright again. "Thank you."

Gearshift gave her a small smile. "Ready?" he asked. "You'll really like it where we're going."

"I'm... sure I will," she replied. "Yes, let's go, shall we?"

The two of them transformed – Mercury into a lightly built, elegant model that really showed off how she was built for grace and Gearshift into a bigger, sporty model that looked capable of moving quickly and accurately. Mercury found herself wondering if his creators had been ninja-bots, or something similar.

Gearshift led the way, heading towards the Stellar Galleries via the most scenic route he could think of, leading Mercury to the very edge of Iacon that allowed them a view of the glittering lights and twisting towers that made up the city. Mercury found it beautiful. Such a sight! She'd never seen Iacon from this way out before.

The Stellar Galleries was just ahead. From where they were, Mercury and Gearshift could see lights from the open air planetarium shining into the night's sky, occasionally eclipsed by the in frequent passing of one of the model planets. A small road split off from the one they were on, a sign post stood at its head and pointing the way towards _Robotoni's, _which Mercury assumed was their destination. But Gearshift didn't turn down that way, he continued on towards the Galleries. Mercury was surprised to see this, but followed without comment.

Gearshift had only been to the Galleries once before in his entire life, on the same solar cycle as his only previous trip to _Robotoni's. _He'd found an odd sort of solace in the peace and quiet of the Galleries, not that he'd ever told anybot about it. The fact that he enjoyed seclusion from time to time was something he kept to himself at all times. But he wanted to show Mercury that she could trust him, so what better way to do it than left her into his life a little?

Gearshift pulled up outside the Galleries' front door, transforming into robot mode and waiting for Mercury to follow suit. They entered side by side, greeted by an attendant who handed them datapads containing information about the Galleries, from the history of the building itself to it use in the present. Mercury began to read instantly, but Gearshift found his attention otherwise occupied.

Mercury was an enigma to him. She seemed so unlike the femmes he expected to find in clubs, so level headed and serious and intelligent. He was puzzled by her, and it was this puzzlement that drove him to find out as much as he could about her.

But she was closed off and secretive. Whether it was just to him, or to everyone, he didn't know, but he _longed _to uncover her secrets, find out what she wanted, her ambitions, her loves, her hates, everything. But why did he want to, he asked himself. Why did he want to know about her when she was clearly so uneasy because of him? He pushed away his thoughts, filing them away for later.

The Stellar Galleries was comprised of more than just a planetarium – it was an entire museum about the discoveries of the universe as made by the Cybertronian race. There was an exhibit of samples of alien substances – metals, rocks, liquids, gases. Another was dedicated to alien life forms, strange creatures that few bots had ever seen in person. A third was filled with technology from other planets – things from the ancient colony worlds, primitive technologies from distant planets unknown to most and even some simplistic but robust vehicles from one particular planet that had not, according to the datapads, been visited for millennia. The datapad explained how contact with many of the worlds encapsulated in the exhibits had been lost, but also expressed hope in hearing from them once again.

The next area was a panorama, displaying the entirety of the galaxy. Every known planet was marked with a holographic label that flickered from the planet's name to a small dose of information on the planet the label belonged to. The tiny model planets were positioned against a backdrop of black, dotted with tiny white LEDs, creating the illusion that they were looking out at a real, albeit tiny, galaxy.

Then came the planetarium itself. A model Cybertron sat hovering in the centre of the room, gently rotating on its axis. Around it floated numerous other planets and moons, such as Moon Base One and Moon Base Two, the volcanic planet Galleon, Thulsa Doom and its seven moons, the ringed Belegaer and the infinitesimally small Tsathoggua, orbited by the tiny moon Eibon.

Gearshift could see instantly that Mercury was taken in by what she saw. The Stellar Galleries was such a serene and peaceful place, filled with knowledge. It was a place of learning and contemplation, something Mercury wished she'd known sooner. Oh, the megacycles she'd have wasted there! The entrance they had taken led out to stand right before the model, but to on the far side were two ramps that led to a walkway above where Mercury and Gearshift stood. Gearshift looked to Mercury, nodding towards the ramp when she looked at him. They walked up together, Mercury never taking her optics off the planets as they danced around each other. Each one was decorated with unique features, giving observers a glimpse of the planet they were looking at. Holographic boards were placed on the wall around the ram, each one talking about a particular planet. Mercury stopped to read every last one, Gearshift reading too, though he was less interested in the information provided.

Try as he might, he could not help but think of Mercury. What, exactly, did she think of him? She seemed to be having a nice enough time, yet he couldn't help but think of how much he'd upset her. Was she just setting her annoyance aside in order to have a more pleasant evening? Again, he forced the thoughts away.

They spent one and a half megacycles looking around the Stellar Galleries, Mercury seeming a little reluctant to leave. But the Galleries was closing for the night, and the attendants and cleaners were eager to close up. Gearshift reminded her that they had a reservation at _Robotoni's, _and she was outside soon enough. With a grin, Gearshift led the way to _Robotoni's._

"I know you'll love it here," Gearshift said excitedly.

"I think you said something similar earlier," Mercury chuckled. "The Stellar Galleries was a surprised, though. Thank you."

Gearshift was caught a little off guard by her thanks. "You're, ah, welcome," he stammered, trying to remain cool. Was he finally winning her over? It seemed so, but he tried not to think about it. This night was his apology. Nothing else.

_Robotoni's _was as quaint as quaint could be. Tables for two sat on a vast balcony that overlooked Iacon, shining steel fretwork forming an overhead covering, with strings of tiny sparkling orbs threaded through the gaps. A waiter led the two of them to a table on the edge of the balcony, giving them a spectacular view of the city below them. A bottle of Mebian Energon was brought to the table and poured into two cubes. It was the finest Energon Mercury had ever tasted.

"So what can Robotoni do for you tonight?" a waiter asked a little later, holding a datapad at the ready for their order. The two had had time enough to browse the menu. Mercury ordered spaghetti botognaise, Gearshift chose botoletta.

The two took the time it took their food to be prepared to wind down a little. Mercury was still ecstatic over the Stellar Galleries, and Gearshift was happy enough to sit and listen to her as she retold him just about everything they had read. She was so interested in knowing things; she drank up everything she learnt, storing it away and being sure not to forget it. Gearshift was sure she had the biggest memory unit of any bot on Cybertron. The things she remembered! She could quote word for word what she had read.

Gearshift sank back into his chair, content with everything. The night was going well.

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><p><strong>I don't really have anything to say today... Other than I HOPE YOU'RE ALL ENJOYING TRANSFORMERS PRIME! :D OMG~ IT'S SO GOOD! :D :D :D<strong>

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	6. An Integral Part

**...**

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* * *

><p><strong><strong>Chapter Six: An Integral Part

Mercury didn't know what to think. She looked at Gearshift from time to time, seeing him looking at her with nothing other than interest. He really seemed to want to know her, to apologise for what he'd done and said over the past few decacycles and show to her that he _was _a good bot. But she couldn't let herself believe him. She _wanted _to believe him, but the part of her that always made the decisions was screaming at her not to.

"So, the club," Gearshift began. "What made you want to work there?"

Mercury took a moment to think about it. "At first it was just a job," she confessed. "But once I got to know everyone there, came to understand how the place was run, I felt like I'd become almost an integral part of the place."

"What about the dancing?"

"Oh, well..." Mercury found herself hesitating. "That's nothing, really. I enjoy the dancing, but I'd rather be a manager like Sol."

The look Gearshift gave her made her wonder if he believed her. He looked at her as if to say "yeah, sure", so rather than let him question her further over it, she changed the subject to him.

"So, who are your creators?" she asked him. The food arrived then and they began to ate. It was delicious.

"Oh, my mech creator was a mechanic on the racetracks," he began.

"Was?" Mercury repeated, spark sinking.

"Ah, he became one with the AllSpark quite some time ago," Gearshift explained. "My femme creator too."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Mercury gasped, biting her lip module.

"It's okay – it was a long time ago," he replied with a small smile. "Anyway, he used to take me with him to see all the racers back then. I made good friends with some of them and they all agreed that I had talent with the way I move – only, rather than speedy, I was agile. They all envied me for it."

Suddenly, Mercury felt less awkward and a little irritated. Was that all he cared about? "Really? Well, you must be good, then."

"Sure am!" Gearshift replied, puffing out his chest plate. "I was created with _amazing_ agility!"

Mercury had a feeling he'd try to demonstrate, as he already had done many times before back at the club, so she changed the subject slightly. "What about your femme creator?"

"She was a medic," he replied. His faceplate fell as he thought of her. "She died as she was trying to cure my mech creator of a deadly virus. She caught it, too, and was completely incapacitated. What's weird is that her research on the cure completely vanished mere megacycles after she caught the virus." He paused for a moment to steady himself. He looked completely shaken. "A cure would easily have been found otherwise. She was so close. But... I remember something strange about it. A mech with purple optics... He unleashed the virus on my mech creator..."

"Gearshift, I'm so-"

"YOU!" someone shouted from the other side of the restaurant. "How _dare _you stand me up!"

"What?" Gearshift demanded. A vibrant blue femme came storming up to the table, her optics fiery with anger and her servos clenched into tight, albeit tiny, fists.

"You creation of a glitch! How _dare _you not turn up to our date last decacycle!"

"Who _are _you?" Gearshift asked. He looked completely confused, but something in his optics told Mercury he was playing dumb.

The femme slapped him across the faceplate, "You've been cheating on me with this femme, haven't you? How _could _you, Gearshift? I thought we had "something special"!"

"I have _no _idea who you are!" Gearshift insisted.

"Yeah, just what you said to that _other_ femme last orbital cycle!" she continued to scream. "You're never satisfied with just _one _femme, are you?"

"Gearshift, what's going on?" Mercury demanded, getting annoyed and more than a little suspicious.

"Mercury, I swear I don't know this femme!" he insisted. But she could see it clearly now. He was panicking, because he knew _exactly _who this femme was. She stood up and began to walk out.

"Mercury! Please!" Gearshift called. He chased after her, shoving aside the blue femme as he did so. She gave an irritated yelp but didn't follow him.

Mercury stormed across the balcony and out of the gate on the other side, transforming as she arrived at the road and racing away as fast as she could. She was fast, Gearshift realised as he gave chase, but he knew these roads and cut around her, taking a shorter road that led directly in front of her. He skidded to a halt before her as she came up the road, blocking her from going further. She transformed back to robot mode in an attempt to get around him, but he transformed to and grabbed her wrist before she could get away.

"Get off me, Gearshift!" she screamed at him. _"You disgusting, arrogant little fragger!"_

She punched him square in the faceplate with surprising force, sending Gearshift stumbling backwards and giving her chance to escape as he let her go. She sped down the road, Gearshift staying where he was as she disappeared back into the twisting streets of Iacon.

* * *

><p><em>What have I done? <em>Gearshift thought. He was sat on his berth, cranial unit in his servos. Lockdown was stood leant against the wall opposite him, looking at Gearshift as if he were the most pathetic thing on Cybertron. He offered no sympathy – such a thing was beyond him, and acted no differently than every other time Gearshift had come home after upsetting a femme. But Lockdown wasn't an idiot; he could see that, this time, Gearshift was upset with himself and not the femme.

"Really thought somethin' o' her, didn't ya?" Lockdown remarked. Gearshift just moaned in reply, dropping his cranial unit onto his knees.

"Why did that femme have to show up?" he said to his knees. "Everything was going so well then she just came _bounding_ in and messed it all up!"

"Set up?"

"Didn't seem to be," Gearshift replied. "Won't rule it out, though. What do I care? That's not the point! Mercury's never going to talk to me again! I can't go back to the club or that Sol femme will tear my armour off!" He stood up suddenly. "Slag it all. I'm going for a drive."

Gearshift stormed out of his apartment and out onto the street, transforming and tearing off down the road. He had no destination in processor, but avoided all routes to Club Venus. Just the thought of it there made him feel like a bad line of code was going through his programming. He drove out to the other side of Iacon – the less desirable side. It was quiet there, save for the occasional screech of tires or _clang_ of metal on metal as one bot fought another. But there was an odd peace to the area, too. A peace that Gearshift appreciated.

"Help me..."

Gearshift came to a dead stop as he heard someone call out. He looked about for the owner of the voice. It took him a moment, but eventually he saw the one who had called – a scrawny little bot was slumped in a skip, looking badly beaten up. There were dents in his armour, one optic was damaged and his right arm was partially torn away, still hanging on by a few fine cables. His Energon had leaked into the rubbish in the skip, giving everything a pinkish tinge. Gearshift wasted no time in pulling the mech out of the skip, getting him to his support servos and supporting him using the mech's one good arm over his shoulders.

"Let's get you to the infirmary," Gearshift huffed. "Who are you?"

"Perceptor," the mech replied weakly. "Thank you for your help."

"Don't mention it," Gearshift replied, trying not to let his stress show. "My name's Gearshift. What are you _doing _here?"

Perceptor didn't answer straight away. "I was looking for something... to help in my research. A mech who... lives down here told me... he could help, but it was... a trap."

"But why did he want to hurt you?"

"Who knows?" Perceptor replied. "I'd never... met him before... I have no idea."

Gearshift let the conversation drop as he dragged Perceptor to safety. Thankfully, he didn't way too much, and it wasn't far, either. Perceptor went offline a little while later, prompting Gearshift to move faster. Perceptor was leaking Energon at a worrying rate, but Gearshift kept his cool and carried on. Soon enough, Perceptor was in the servos of the medics. Gearshift followed them inside, wanting to see that the mech was taken care of. He sat in the waiting room as they worked to stabilise him.

A nurse came into the waiting room. "He's going to be just fine," she said. "It's lucky that you found him, though. He lost so much Energon, any longer and he'd be one with the AllSpark by now."

Gearshift felt on odd feeling go through him – relief, amazement, joy. He'd helped someone, and now Perceptor was safe and taken care of. He was still upset about Mercury, but at least he'd done some good.

"Thank you," Gearshift said with a small smile. "I'll be on my way."

"He's online right now," she interrupted. "He wants to see you before you go."

"Oh!" Gearshift gasped, standing and following her through to the ward. Perceptor was there, looking weak. He was repaired at least. Gearshift walked over to the berth and gave him a grin.

"You look a bit better," he said to Perceptor. Perceptor grinned back.

"I feel terrible," he confessed. "But I hear I'll be fine." Perceptor paused for a moment, then continued. "Thank you. I'd be dead right now if you hadn't found me. I owe you big time. Anytime you need a favour-"

"Thank you, Perceptor," Gearshift interrupted with a kind smile, sensing a lengthy thank you coming on. "I'll keep that in mind."

They bid each other goodbye and Gearshift left, overjoyed at having saved a life. He still felt like a letdown, but at least he'd done something good. He wanted to do more good, he decided, and there was one place where he could both develop himself in positive ways and also help others.

The Ninja Corps.

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><p><strong>I feel I should apologise... BUT I AIN'T GONNA COS I DON'T KNOW WHY I WOULD!<strong>

**;D**

**(I'm not crazy, I swear.)**

**Please review!**

**:D**


	7. For Mercury

**I'm so sorry for the dismally short/rushed chapter. I'm so tired this week I don't even know what I'm doing with myself D: **

**Anyway, enjoy!**

**:D**

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><p><span>Chapter Seven: For Mercury<span>

Roughly one and a half orbital cycles passed before anyone dared approach Mercury on the subject of her "apology-date" with Gearshift. For the entire duration of that time, she had been near-silent, moody and irritable. She would not dance on stage, she was verging on rude to customers (not that anyone of them were ever sober enough to notice) and cold towards her co-workers. Everyone at Club Venus was worried for her. This wasn't like her, and they knew that the usually friendly Mercury was not angry at them, as she seemed. She was angry at Gearshift. Sol and the bartender were talking quietly by the back door, both voicing their concerns over Mercury.

"I've never seen her like this before," said the bartender. He'd known her since she'd been protoformed, having been a close family friend of her creators. "She's always upbeat, friendly, _happy."_

"I can tell you _exactly _what's caused it," Sol hissed. "That _stupid _mech, Gearshift. I didn't like him as soon as I saw him – knew he was trouble. But he's lured dear Mercury into his greasy servos and _now _look! Trouble! Nothing more!"

A mech walked up to them then. Tall, spiky, green and black. Lockdown.

"Gearshift's not as bad as ya think," he said as he approached. "Is Mercury here?"

"Why do _you _want to see her?" Sol barked, taking a threatening step towards the bigger mech. Lockdown didn't even blink at her.

"Jus' passin' on a message," he replied. "Guessin' she ain't happy 'bout Gearshift not even attemptin' ter say sorry?"

"You could say that," the bartender replied. Lockdown nodded slightly.

"Lemme tell ya why..."

* * *

><p>"The <em>Ninja Corps?" <em>Mercury repeated, incredulous. "He hasn't tried to see me because he's joined _The Ninja Corps? _Are you sure you heard Lockdown right?"

"Certain," the bartender said. "Lockdown said that Gearshift was so upset with himself that he joined the Corps to try and better himself. Lockdown came to tell you whilst heading there himself."

"How can the least disciplined bot on Cybertron get into The Ninja Corps?" Mercury demanded. The bartender shrugged.

"Beyond me," he replied. "Maybe old Master Yoketron saw some good in him?"

"Whatever," Mercury replied, turning back to her work. "If he's at The Corps annoying Master Yoketron, he's not here to annoy me."

"Mercury," the bartender said, his voice low and warning. "To make a choice like joining The Corps isn't something anybot does. The Corps change bots, especially ones like him. Give it a few stellar cycles and then, if you see him again, he won't be the same mech he was."

Mercury scoffed. "You're right," she began. "Instead he'll be a creation of a glitch that can _fight_."

* * *

><p><em>Relax.<em>

He lowered his shoulders, preparing to strike.

_Focus._

His optics were focused on the target alone.

_Steady yourself._

His support servos were planted on the ground, his heels raised as he readied himself to launch forward.

_Go!_

Gearshift launched himself forwards, fist tightly balled as it flew forwards, aiming for the dead centre of the training dummy's chest plate. Fist connected with dummy, but the dummy didn't fly back as far as Lockdown's did.

"Well done, Lockdown," Yoketron said. "Gearshift – a sound attempt, but you are relying too much on your sheer weight when you need to use the movement of your body. Remember, the power behind a punch comes from the hip."

Gearshift sighed, trying not to sound annoyed. "Yes, master."

Yoketron nodded his approval. "Again."

The dummies were put back in position and again Gearshift and Lockdown punched. Lockdown's still moved furthest, but Gearshift's moved a lot more than the previous attempt.

"Much better, Gearshift," he praised, his tone of voice not changing in the slightest. "You have potential – both of you. But, Lockdown, you have a very natural skill. You will learn fast."

"Thankin' you, master," Lockdown replied with a slight bow.

Gearshift rolled his optics. "Since when have you been so respectful?"

Suddenly a bo staff hit Gearshift over the cranial unit, causing the green mech to flinch and grab a hold of the offended body part. "What was that for?"

"Your past is of no concern here," said Yoketron. "And neither is Lockdown's. You have both come here to learn the ways of the ninja, and those ways begin with _respect."_

Gearshift expected Lockdown to snidely say "Yeah, Shift," but he did not. Instead, he stood quietly and awaited further instruction from Master Yoketron. But, instead of telling his two newest students to punch the dummies again, Yoketron continued his lesson in respect.

"Every time you step out of line, Gearshift," he began, "whether it is towards me or a fellow student, I shall strike you with my bo staff. Hopefully you shall also prove to be a swift learner, or you shall be suffering severe cranial unit ache in the near future."

Gearshift glowered at Yoketron but said nothing as he rubbed his cranial unit. They were instructed to continue the exercise. On the other side of the dojo, a mech named Devcon was training with a second mech named Road Rocket. Gearshift liked Road Rocket. He was rebellious and didn't take anything from Yoketron. Well, he displayed a rebellious nature, but Yoketron's teachings seemed to quell his naturally unruly ways. Still, Road Rocket rarely spoke unless spoken to, as opposed to Devcon, who seemed happy to engage in conversation. He was jovial, but level headed and serious, too. Yoketron seemed to favour Devcon, somewhat, in the rare moments when Gearshift felt he could read his new master's emotions.

But Yoketron's favouritism did not matter to Gearshift. Every so often, he took a moment to remind himself why he was there. _Femmes are not objects, _he told himself. _The world does not revolve around myself alone. I am here to atone for my mistakes, as an apology to every bot I have ever hurt or offended. I am here for them. I am here for her... for Mercury._

Gearshift suddenly found himself frozen. He could not bring himself to punch the dummy as Mercury entered his thoughts. He had wronged her, and he vowed to make things right. He would train, he would become strong, he would return to Mercury and finally make up for all his mistakes. And this time, he was certain nothing would go wrong.

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><p><strong>Short chapter is short.<strong>

**Please review!**

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	8. The Club Isn't For Sale

**I've been feeling better this week, so here is a (hopefully) better chapter :D **

**Enjoy!**

**:D**

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><p><span>Chapter Eight: The Club Isn't For Sale<span>

The club was dead. Again. The staff milled about the dance floor, searching for even the slightest amount of work to do, the dancers pretended to be excited for the next show, the bartender dozed off. The past thousand stellar cycles had been explosive and enjoyable to begin with, but had recently ground down to a halt, and everyone knew why. War was brewing. But a certain purple and silver femme didn't see it that way. Tending to the handful of customers, Mercury silently despaired over what was to happen to her club.

"Ever since I took over, things have gone from bad to worse!" Mercury huffed. "Why did Sol have management given to _me?"_

"Because you _asked _for it," the bartender, now awake, thanks to Mercury's moaning, pointed out. "Or at least, you made it clear it was something you wanted to do."

"But I wasn't _ready _for it then! I'm not _now, _either!" The bartender rubbed his optics.

"Merc, the club's lack of customers isn't your fault," he told her firmly. "You run this place exactly as it has always been run. It's not _you; _it's what's out _there."_

Mercury looked to the door of the club. Outside was as dead and desolate as inside. Bots were afraid to live outside their homes, nowadays, what with the increasing violence on the streets, the growing organised crime and the revival of the "Decepticon" faction. Mercury saw the fear everyone felt, knew that this was what was stopping bots from visiting the bar, but still felt like it was her attempt at taking over the club that was causing the lack of customers. Mercury was painfully good at antagonising herself.

The club was to close in a megacycle, but the night's patrons had already left. Mercury took the cardkey and began to head towards the door, the bartender not saying a word as she did so. He watched her as she walked, worry on his faceplate. Not for the club, for Mercury. He had to find a way to convince her that nothing was her fault, but she was so pigheaded when it came to these things that he knew it was going to take time and effort.

Mercury put a servo against the door, as she moved to insert the cardkey, but she was stopped by mech bounding in.

"Not too late, am I? Was hoping for a drink before heading home for the night," he said cheerfully as he popped his cranial unit through the door. Mercury tensed ever so slightly at his sudden appearance.

"Uh, no, of course! Come in," she said, opening the door for him. He came in, a slight strut to his walk. Something about his overly cheerful demeanour put Mercury on edge. How could anybot be so jolly with all this political unrest? Mercury decided to keep an optic on him. He strutted over to the bar, leaning against it as if he were an expected regular in Club Venus.

"Whaddya want?" the bartender asked him. "McGuirkess? Michelobay?"

"Ah, I was thinking something more like a Metrotitan," the mech replied, his purple optics scanning the bot-sized holo menus hanging behind the bar. _Purple optics, _Mercury thought. _Where have I heard about purple optics?_

"So how's the political strife treating you?" the mech asked the bartender, who shrugged.

"Same as every other business in Iacon – bad," he replied. "Anyone who's making good of this slag can only be a Decepticon."

The mech didn't acknowledge his Decepticon comment. "I can take this place off of your servos, you know. I'd pay a fine price for a place like this."

"You're talking to the wrong bot," the bartender replied. "But even if I were in charge, I'd say no, and I know my boss will, too."

"Don't call me "boss"," Mercury huffed. The newcomer turned to her.

"So _you're _in charge?" he asked, slightly puzzled, by the look of his faceplate. After a moment, his expression changed to one of an almost devilish friendliness. "Surely it's hard on you, trying to keep this place going with so few customers?"

"We have our busy nights and our quiet nights," Mercury defended. "This is a quiet one."

"I see," the mech said, unconvinced. "The name's Swindle, by the way." He offered a servo, which was soundly ignored by Mercury. "I'm serious about buying the place, by the way. How much do you want for it?"

"The club isn't for sale," Mercury replied.

"I can pay you a lot of credits" Swindle said, pulling out am account card. "Name your price."

"The club isn't for sale," Mercury repeated, more of an edge to her voice. Swindle's purple optics narrowed, taking a step closer to her.

"Wouldn't you rather be relaxing on the shores of the Rust Sea than running an abandoned club?" he asked. "This place is history! It's time for you to move on and enjoy your life! Get out there and do the things you've always wanted to do! Travel the stars! Visit the colony worlds!"

"The club _isn't for sale," _she said a third time. But Swindle wasn't taking her refusal. In his servos there were suddenly blasters, which he levelled at Mercury. Mercury froze. Never in her life had blasters been aimed at her. She'd never _seen _live firearms.

"Mercury!" the bartender yelled, moving to vault over the bar. But Swindle turned a blaster on him, too.

"Don't move or I shoot you both," he snapped. Mercury saw something in the way he acted. He was unaccustomed to using force – normally he could talk his way into getting what he wanted, but Mercury was tenacious to say the least. He knew how to handle his weapons, but he didn't want to use them. He was doing this out of desperation.

Before another word could be said, the door opened once again and another mech stepped in. Swindle aimed the blaster pointed at the bartender at the new mech, but he didn't even flinch at the sight of the weapon. The new mech continued walking forwards, coming straight for Swindle and eventually coming into Mercury's line of sight. Her optics widened when she saw him – tall, green and white with a katana on his back. Mercury never thought she'd see that mech again, but there he was.

"_You?" _Swindle hissed to himself.

Gearshift drew his katana and pointed it at Swindle. "Using force, Swindle? You must need to get this place quite badly, then. Either that or you've met your match as far as the use of words goes."

Swindle's optics were vicious slivers of purple as he prepared to fire, both of his blasters now aimed for Gearshift. But the green mech didn't shutter an optic, instead, he flicked out his katana, slicing both blasters and creating a smoking Energon-pink explosion. Swindle flinched away, tripping over a barstool and falling to his aft. Through the cloud, Gearshift jabbed his katana, which came to a stop mere nanometers from Swindle's faceplate, right between the optics. Swindle didn't move a piston.

"Get out, Swindle," Gearshift said, his voice low. "If I hear of you bothering these good bots again then you've got me to answer to."

Swindle was gone in a flash.

There was a moment of stunned silence as Gearshift sheathed his katana. Neither Mercury nor the bartender knew what to say, whether to thank Gearshift or to comment on his sudden return. It took Gearshift a moment to decide to speak first.

"I'm... sorry for the sudden reappearance," he apologised. "I was patrolling the streets when I saw Swindle head in here. I didn't want him bothering you."

"Well, ah, thank you," Mercury replied hesitantly. She didn't say anymore, still in shock.

"Are you alright?" Gearshift asked her. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Mercury shook her cranial unit as the bartender came over to the pair, a cube of Energon in each servo. "Here," said quietly, handing one to each of them. Mercury sipped it, taking small but quick drinks. Gearshift just stared into his for a moment, deciding what to say. Neither Mercury nor the bartender pushed him into speaking. For the moment, they were intent to settle their nerves and drink their Energon.

"No bot's ever threatened me like that before," Mercury said quietly. Gearshift gave her a sympathetic smile.

"I'm sad to say you may have to get used to it, the way things are these solar cycles," he replied. "Any idea what Swindle wanted with this place?" Mercury shook her cranial unit again.

"No, but he was desperate," she replied. "I've never seen a bot so anxious."

"Maybe he was under orders to acquire this place?" Gearshift suggested. Mercury shrugged.

"I don't know," she sighed. "But he's gone, that's all I care about. Thank you."

Gearshift smiled. "Don't mention it."

Silence again. Mercury finished her Energon without another glance at Gearshift. What to say to him? Ask him what happened after their last encounter? Ask him _about _their last encounter? The silence wasn't awkward and she didn't want to make it so either. But she felt like she ought to say something.

"The club's in trouble, isn't it?" Gearshift suddenly said. Mercury was glad he'd spoken, but continued to stare at the floor.

"Yes," she murmured. "Since all this trouble started business has been far from booming. We're struggling for funds and we've had to lay off a good portion of the staff."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Gearshift said. "Some good bots worked here."

Mercury nodded in agreement, but said nothing, content to drop the subject in favour of taking time to calm herself. Her systems were still running wild as the recent events played over and over again in her processor. She barely moved as she thought it through. She'd been staring death in the faceplate, but then in came Gearshift to the rescue. She was grateful, but she couldn't push away the memories of why she'd run from him all those stellar cycles ago.

"I can give you the credits you need," he said quietly. Mercury's cranial unit shot up.

"What?"

"I can give you the credits you need," he repeated. He gave her a small smile. "Honestly."

"I can't take your credits," Mercury replied hurriedly.

"Yes you can," Gearshift insisted.

Mercury didn't reply. "You've changed."

"For the better, I hope," Gearshift replied with a slight smirk. Mercury gave him a small smile, too.

"Certainly," she said, quietly. "The Ninja Corps was clearly a good thing for you."

Gearshift chuckled, embarrassed slightly. "It's certainly an experience. You should visit the dojo, you'd like it. Maybe the ninjas could teach you some self defence techniques." He winked at her.

Mercury chuckled. "I think I'd appreciate that, with how things are. Which style did you study?"

"A mix of circuit-su and sword fighting," he replied, tapping his digits against the hilt of his blade. "I'm not the best, but I'm good enough to scare off a desperate Decepticon."

"Your slicing up of Swindle's blasters was impressive," Mercury replied. "I've never seen a bot handle a sword like that."

"Thank you," Gearshift replied. He smiled kindly. "Mercury, I want to help you. Take the credits."

Mercury took a deep intake and looked him in the optic, her faceplate expressionless. "Alright," she began slowly. "But on _one _condition."

"Anything," Gearshift replied.

"You become part owner."

* * *

><p><strong>I feel a moment's silence is need as we remember Breakdown...<strong>

**Okay, anyway, please review!**

**:D**


	9. Customers Are Customers

**Not feeling great this week... again. I seem to be having a bit of a transition and _everything is going all weird._ **

**Anyway, enjoy!**

**:D**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Nine: Customers Are Customers<span>

"Wha- Seriously?" Gearshift stammered. "But-"

"But nothing, Gearshift," Mercury replied, her voice suddenly full of confidence again. She looked him straight in the optics, holding his gaze without faltering in the slightest. Gearshift simply gawked back. She was _serious? _"These are my terms, Gearshift. Take them or leave them."

He continued to just stare at her for a short while longer, her optics never leaving his. She really wanted him to join her? It did seem a fair trade – if he was giving her the money then it would be assumed that he _wanted_ to be part owner. But he wasn't here to trade anything. He was here to make up for his mistakes. She was looking beyond that, however.

"Fine," Gearshift said after a short eternity. "If you think you can stand me, I'll stick around."

Mercury smiled. "That's what I liked to hear," she replied, smiling broadly. "I hope you know how to mix drinks though." She gave him a wink before turning on her heel strut and walking over to the bar. "So how are we going to do this?"

* * *

><p>The decacycles passed without incident worth mentioning. Gearshift took up an active part in the running of the club, helping out on the bar and taking care of ruffians when need be. The usual bouncers were amazed at his ability to take care of the unfavourable bots in a swift and subtle way. He kept the rabble out and hardly had to raise a digit to do it! The bouncers were made pretty much redundant, but Mercury insisted that they not leave the club, despite it still being as quiet as ever.<p>

Mercury came to realise just how much Gearshift had changed when she saw him react to a group of femmes trying to get his attention. A group of ten or so all came and surrounded him, all pandering for his attention. But he simply gave them all a courteous nod and pointed to an equally large group of mechs that had been eyeing them up since they'd entered. Soon enough, the mechs were dancing with the femmes, and Gearshift was back to mixing drinks with a triumphant smirk on his faceplate.

"So you're a matchmaker now?" Mercury had asked him with a giggle. "I didn't think you were the type."

Gearshift gave her a chuckle. "I wouldn't call it matchmaking," he replied. "But what harm is a one night stand for young bots? Part of maturing."

Mercury didn't seem to agree, but made an "hmm" sound as if she did. But Gearshift caught on.

"Well," he began, trying to recover. "In this day and age, the younglings need to have an escape."

Mercury sighed. "True, I suppose. We do seem to be entertaining little other than younglings nowadays."

"I'd say "customers are customers"," Gearshift began. "But things are so... _wrong _lately that I don't feel it would make any difference."

Mercury took a moment, putting down the cube she'd been holding in order to think. It did seem that the world was going to waste, but what could she do? She wasn't a fighter, never had been. But she could see that Gearshift was torn over what he should do. He felt a duty to Mercury and the club, but knew his skills were needed out in the field. He still worked and trained at the Corps regularly, and he explained that his time at the club was strictly a secret. If Master Yoketron knew what he did during his "down time", he'd been in more trouble than he cared to mention. This he had told to Mercury. The fact surprised her. What kind of trouble would he be in? It couldn't have been anything too bad if he was willing to risk it to help her out.

Or was it something more?

"I don't care what you say," Twirl said suddenly one solar cycle to Mercury as the two sat in one of the backstage rooms. Gearshift was at the dojo, leaving Mercury time to talk to her dancers. "You _like_ him."

Mercury scoffed. "No I don't," she insisted. "He's helped me... _us... _ a great deal over the past few decacycles, but I still can't forget what he was like before his Ninja Corps training."

"Oh, Mercury, _please!" _Twirl giggled. "I can tell you straight that he likes _you."_

"So what if he does? It doesn't mean I have to like him back," she replied.

"But-"

"Time to dance, Twirl!" another dancer called, dragging Twirl from the room. Twirl gave Mercury a wink over her shoulder before disappearing through the door, Mercury just flopped back on her chair with an exaggerated sigh.

"Is everything alright, Mercury?" Gearshift asked as he suddenly appeared in the doorway leading away from the stage. "You look a little exasperated."

"Oh, spark! Gearshift, where did you come from?" she gasped, jumping at his sudden appearance. "I thought you were at the dojo?"

"I was," he replied with a shrug. "I was sent off this way on patrol so I thought I'd check in."

"Well... uh, thank you," she replied hastily. "I don't think there's any cause for concern around here."

"Good to here," he replied with a smile. "You didn't answer me though. Are you alright?"

"I... I'm fine," Mercury answered. "What about you? You look a bit... beat up."

There were a number of small but clear scratches on Gearshift's armour, accompanied by a number of scorch marks and patches of blacked metal. It looked like he'd been in a rather bad fight. Gearshift looked himself over before answering.

"I'm fine," he replied. "Just got into a fight with some Con who thought he knew how to fight a trained ninja. Saw me coming out of the Corps and took me on for no reason that I know of." He paused a moment. "He didn't have purple optics..."

"You're still searching for him?" Mercury replied. "That Swindle mech had purple optics..."

Gearshift was silent for a long while, before he shuttered his optics and sighed. "He's the only one I know... But I can't remember if it was him or not. I was so little when it happened."

Mercury stood up and faced him, looking him in the optic with an expression of sympathy. She put her servo on his arm and gave it a comforting squeeze. "You'll find him. I'll help you if I can."

Gearshift thanked her quietly and put his own servo over hers. "There are other things to worry about now," he replied, looking at the ground. "... I'm going to be away for a while. The Autobots need me."

Mercury didn't look at him, just nodded silently. "Come back safe, alright?"

Gearshift smirked. "I won't be gone longer than a few lunar cycles, I promise."

With that, he bid his goodbye, turning and walking back out. Mercury stood where she was and watched him leave, trying not to grimace sadly as he disappeared into the crowd of dancing bots. He spark sank and she felt sick, watching him go – a soldier on his way to battle. What if he got hurt or captured? Then she realised it.

She _did _like him.

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><p><strong>Dramatic<em> dun dun duuuuun!<em>**

**Please review!**

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	10. In Rage

**I am so sorry for not posting last week, everyone. I just didn't have the time or the energy to write :(**

**Anyway, here's a new chapter for y'all!**

**Enjoy!**

**:D**

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><p><span>Chapter Ten: In Rage<span>

Gearshift was poised to strike, crouched down behind a pile of rubble with his optics focused on a Decepticon skulking through the shadows. Kaon was a mess, but it provided him with cover, at least. The Con was light on his support servos, but Gearshift never let him out of his sight, following the Con as he darted from place to place. Soon, the Con was in place.

Gearshift leapt from his hiding place – behind a broken wall on the third storey of a skyscraper – and down at the Con, who had come to a stop at a dead end down a narrow alley. But as he flew through the air, the Con _vanished_ into the ground. Gearshift landed where the Con had been, only to fall through the ground himself and into a dimly lit passageway below. He looked up to where he'd fallen through and saw that, from beneath, where he'd fallen was a wide hole in the walkway above. Around the edge, there were a series of small boxes, all lit up and projecting an image that, from where he stood, was clear.

_Holograms, _he thought. _By the Pit!_

He looked about himself, scanning for the Con. He was gone, vanished into the surrounding shadows. Gearshift felt a flash of panic. This screamed trap, or could it be an opportunity to hunt some Cons? Gearshift decided to take a chance.

He jumped up towards the hole, latching onto the edge and pulling off the hologram projectors. He could use these, if he wired them to his own circuitry...

A few cycles later and Gearshift was equipped with fully functional hologram projectors. It was time to explore. He dashed down the passage, light on his support servos and constantly prepared to activate his brand new hologram projectors. Everything was eerily quiet as he walked down the featureless passageway. Why was this here? Surely the Decepticons didn't need secret places in their own capital? Or was it just supposed to be a secret from invading Autobots?

Again, the idea of this all being a trap flickered through his processor, but he ignored it. A calm processor is a clear processor, he told himself. But the passageway didn't seem to be leading anywhere fast. Ought he to turn back and return with others? Or should he carry on? If this place led to a number of Cons, rather than just the one he'd been stalking, then he'd be in trouble. But if just the one was here, he could take him on easy.

_Best to maintain stealth, do a little recon and then hide and plan my move, _Gearshift told himself. _Don't be rash. I need to be careful._

The passageway finally changed. A thick steel door stood before Gearshift, sealed with a security panel that was completely sealed – there was no way to pry it off to work the wires behind. On examination, Gearshift deduced that the security panel was designed to identify the bot who activated it. If he used it, the alarm would go off, for sure.

Gearshift stepped back and activated his hologram projectors, creating an image of the Decepticon he'd been following. Moving quickly, Gearshift activated the panel and darted back away from it, leaving the hologram in front of the panel. The panel slid open to reveal a scanner, Gearshift silently praying to Primus that it would work on a hologram. It did.

The door slid open with a _hiss, _and Gearshift slipped through. The room behind was pitch black, save for a spotlight hanging over a table. On the table sat a series of very deadly looking weapons. Gearshift approached with caution. The room was so dark that Cons could easily be hiding in the shadows, but he didn't see any of the usual light-up decals normal of transformers glowing in the darkness. He stopped before the table, reaching for one of the weapons. Even if there were no Cons here, this was an intriguing find.

_Hzzt!_

Something came flying through the air, lodging itself in Gearshift's shoulder. Suddenly he was on the ground, unable to move freely as his body began spasm with the high charge of electricity pumping through it. Gearshift couldn't see, his vision had gone completely, although his optics were shuttered tightly anyway. He screamed in pain as it all became too much, his optics flickering online briefly, allowing him to see the Con he'd been following, stood by a second, purple optic mech. Anger and fear tore through Gearshift at the sight of them, his spasms turning into desperate attempts to get back to his support servos.

"You're just asking for me to kill you now, aren't you?" the purpled optic mech mocked. "I left you alive all those stellar cycles ago because you were just a sparkling, but it seems you _really _want to be with your dead creators." Swindle leaned forwards; close enough so that Gearshift could tell it was him. "I'm sure I can accommodate you."

"It -_HZzzT!-_ _was _you?" Gearshift croaked out. Swindle sneered.

"Couldn't have your femme creator working out the cure to that virus," Swindle replied. "Wouldn't have been good for the Decepticon's bio weapons experiments."

Gearshift yelled in rage, writhing even more until he finally managed to get a grip on the weapon buried in his shoulder. Swindle laughed. Gearshift's struggles were _so _pathetic. But then something that surprised the purple optic mech happened, as Gearshift tore the thing out and threw it and Swindle. The Con screamed as electricity tore through his systems, the second one lurching towards Gearshift. But the ninja was ready for him, kicking out as the Con came close. The Con yelled as he took the kick, rolling sideways as he cradled his injured abdomen.

_I didn't hit you that hard, _Gearshift thought to himself, getting up and running for the door, which was thankfully illuminated from the other side. The passageway seemed horribly long on the return trip, but Gearshift ran full pelt along it, all too conscious of the fact that his systems were on high alert thanks to the overcharge and his optics were still flickering on and off. He was in a bad way, right in the heat of Kaon.

He arrived at the hole, none too soon, and leapt up, pulling himself over the edge and back onto street level. He didn't have it in him for stealth, but he knew it might be what kept him from being killed out on Kaon's streets. He climbed a tower, ducking into a blasted out window and dashing through the devastated inside. He leapt from tower block to tower block, half trying to be cautious, half trying to just _get away. _It _was _Swindle who had killed his creators. It was Swindle who would pay.

* * *

><p>Mercury was just about ready to shut up for the night, but as she mopped the floor clean of spilled Energon, her thoughts turned to Gearshift. He'd been gone for two and a half orbital cycles, and the club felt different with him gone. The usual gentlemanly tenacity was missing from the air, and Mercury found herself asking her shadow for things. She felt wrong without Gearshift there with her, a feeling which had only grown in strength the longer he'd been gone.<p>

Mercury pushed her thoughts out of her processor, squeezing the mop into the bucket before taking the whole lot into the back. She was worried, her train of thought restarting. What if Gearshift didn't come back? What if he was killed in the field? They'd come so far recently, finally become friends, maybe more than that.

No, she told herself, they weren't more than friends. _Not yet._

Free of the mop and bucket, Mercury headed to the bar, intent on cleaning some empty cubes for later use. But as she returned to the floor, the front door was thrown open, a green and white mech falling in. Mercury's optics widened.

It was Gearshift.

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><p><strong>Goodness, I'm horrible to my characters! D:<strong>

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	11. Kindred

**Sorry for not updating yesterday, guys! I was in London :3**

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><p><span>Chapter Eleven: Kindred<span>

Mercury ran to the green mech's side, the bartender on her heel struts. Mercury strained to move Gearshift so she could examine him. The green mech groaned as she moved him, his faceplate contorting in pain. Mercury looked him over; he didn't seem badly hurt, but there was a wound in his left shoulder that was leaking Energon.

"He needs to go to the infirmary," the bartender huffed.

"Gearshift," she said quietly. "What happened?"

She didn't expect him to croak out a reply. "S... S-Swindle..."

Mercury bit her lip module. He'd been _attacked _by Swindle? Or had he found out that it _was _Swindle who had killed his creators? Either way, he needed repairs, badly.

"Look the front door, I'm calling the infirmary," Mercury commanded. The bartender went to do as told, Mercury moving to office to use the club's communicator. She punched in the emergency number, and an image of the infirmary's receptionist popped up on screen.

"This is Iacon Infirmary, how may I help?"

"I have a seriously injured Autobot in my club, Club Venus, I need a medical transport to collect him immediately," Mercury replied. "He's leaking Energon and is struggling to stay online."

"A transport is on the way," the receptionist replied. Mercury thanked him and hung up.

The bartender had moved Gearshift into an upright position, so that his wound was higher than the rest of his torso. The leaking Energon had slowed, but was still flowing from the gaping hole at quite a rate. Gearshift's optics were dim and partly shuttered, but he was battling with himself to stay online. As Mercury approached, he tried to look up at her, but even that was hard for him. Her managed a small smile instead.

"Told you... I'd be back..." he grunted. Mercury returned his weak smile.

"You told me you'd come back safe," she reminded him. "A medical transport is on the way."

"Th-thank you," Gearshift replied.

Mere moments later, the transport arrived and a pair of medics came to the door. The bartender opened it up for them and moved aside as they lifted Gearshift onto a stretcher and into the transport.

"I'm coming with you, if I may," Mercury said as they stepped out of the transport. They nodded and helped her climb inside; shutting the door once she was settled.

The transport was a swift vehicle, but the infirmary was a while away. Gearshift went offline, but not before Mercury slipped her servo into his. Mercury didn't let go, not for the entire trip, and once they arrived she was reluctant to release him. His servo felt so right to her, so comforting. Despite him being wounded and offline, she felt _safe _with him near her.

Her spark suddenly gave a painful twinge, which seemed to pull her towards Gearshift. It was such an intense feeling – painful yet somehow comforting at the same time – that it left her systems buzzing. She braced herself against the berth, holding onto it with her free servo as her other tightened around Gearshifts. What _was _that?

The transport came to a halt and Gearshift was taken into the infirmary, Mercury following closely behind. Her spark was racing, but she could no longer say why. What was going on? Perhaps she ought to have a system diagnostic whilst she was at the infirmary, she mused.

Gearshift was taken into an operating theatre, Mercury left to wait outside in the waiting room. She paced back and forth, anxious and still confused and buzzing over her spark's peculiar behaviour. A nurse came to her then.

"You can watch the operation, if you'd like to," he said quietly, respectfully. Mercury nodded and followed him down a corridor that went down the side of the operating theatre. Down there, a huge window was set into the wall, through which bots could look inside. Within, the medics had already set to work on Gearshift's wound, repairing relays, reconnecting tubes and welding metal back into place. It didn't take long before the wound was repaired, leaving nothing but a dirtied patch on his shoulder where the wound had been, but to Mercury it felt like forever. What was odd, however, was that everything they did to Gearshift, Mercury believed she could feel herself. Every little prick of a scalpel, every tug with a pair of tweezers, she felt it _all._

Satisfied that they were finished, the medics had Gearshift taken from the operating theatre and into one of the wards. Mercury followed, suddenly feeling sick right to the pit of her fuel tank. A passing nurse noticed Mercury's silent distress.

"Are you alright?" the nurse asked, putting a servo on Mercury's arm. "You look a little shaken."

Mercury didn't look at the nurse. "Would I be able to have a quick check-up? I think something's wrong with me."

"Of course," the nurse said. "Perceptor is currently free, I'm sure he'd be happy to examine you."

Perceptor was busy studying something in test tubes when the nurse opened the door to his office. The mech looked up from his work, setting the tubes down in their rack and standing up to greet Mercury.

"How may I help?" he asked her.

Mercury explained how she felt – racing spark, anxiety, the peculiar feeling she felt when Gearshift was being repaired. At mention of Gearshift, Perceptor's optic ridges rose.

"Gearshift? I know him. I owe him a favour."

"You do?"

"Yes, but that's not important," Perceptor insisted. "What you've explained to me is a simple thing, but very rare. In fact, whereas it is not bad news, you may not want to hear it."

"Am I alright?" Mercury pressed. She had no idea where Perceptor was going with this.

"You're perfectly fine," Perceptor replied with a small smile. "In fact, you're better than fine. You have a kindred spark."

Confusion flashed across Mercury's faceplate. "Kindred spark? That's just sparkling a story."

Perceptor chuckled slightly. "Not so. It used to be very common throughout Cybertron, countless millennia ago. But it became very rare when bots stopped having sparkling as often – it just wasn't needed as much. Granted, sparkling can be had without a kindred pair of sparks, but the _pull, _the _desire _to bond and sparkis absent. It's believed that eventually all kindred sparks are now in just a servofull of families, apparently yours and Gearshift's included."

Mercury took a deep intake and looked at the floor. So she had a kindred spark? With Gearshift?

"I need to go see him," Mercury said after a long pause. "Thank you, Perceptor."

* * *

><p>Gearshift was in the middle of a stasis nap when Mercury returned, but he was online the second she put a servo on his. He looked at her with bright optics, bright but tired. He took Mercury's servo in his and smiled up at her, turning over on the berth to face her.<p>

"Thank you," Gearshift said.

"I didn't do anything," she insisted. "Why did you come to the club rather than straight here?"

"The club was closer," Gearshift replied. "I ran all the way from Kaon with a hole in my shoulder, I was weak enough by the time I got to the suburbs, let alone the downtown area where the club is."

Mercury nodded silently and half shuttered her optics. "You mentioned Swindle, back at the club."

Gearshift sighed, rolling onto his back, but still with Mercury's servo in his. "I was stalking a Decepticon target though Kaon when he vanished into the ground. I followed and ended up in what I guess was some secret hideout of Swindle's. I was stupid; he shot me in the back with some paralysing thing. Whilst I was down, he told me..." He paused and took a deep intake. "He told me that it _was _him who killed my creators."

Mercury put her free servo over her lip modules. "How did you get away?"

"Pulled the damn thing out of my shoulder and threw it back at him," Gearshift answered. "Square in the chest plate. Must have missed his spark though, it didn't kill him. A shock like that would have killed a bot his size, easy, if it landed in the right place. He's got to be in worse shape than me."

"He won't be bothering you then," Mercury said, trying to add a positive spin. Gearshift wasn't so sure.

"He'll want me dead for sure now," he told her. "Soon as he's back in action, he'll come for me."

Mercury didn't say anything for a while, thinking it through. Finally, she said, "We'll just have to be ready for him."

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><p><em><strong>Dun dun duuuuuun!<strong>_

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	12. I Couldn't

**Well this is odd, I'm usually done with a fic by the twelfth/thirteenth chapter :S**

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><strong>

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><p><span>Chapter Twelve: I Couldn't<span>

Gearshift spent the next few solar cycles at the dojo. He was still weak, and a decacycle of rest was highly recommended by the medics. But Gearshift was known to be restless, and was back training with his fellow ninjas the day after he was released. He was forbidden to go on missions, but training was usually enough to keep him occupied.

Master Yoketron kept his optics on him at all times, knowing that even with the sense of discipline and duty Gearshift had gained under his master's watch, he was still prone to doing what he pleased. Yoketron was not suspicious of him, but he was attentive. The younger mech had so much promise, but his dark history soured his intentions and left him full of well concealed hatred and fear.

Yoketron pitied him, but had noticed that recently his bitterness had lifted somewhat. Something had changed for him, but what that was, Yoketron could not say. Whatever it was, it was outside the dojo. Perhaps he'd gained a new friend that had shown him a different way of thinking? Or he'd seen something out in Iacon that had changed his perspective? Whatever it was, the positive changes in Gearshift had been shattered by his recent excursion into Kaon. Old wounds had been opened, and the change in him Yoketron had witnessed was so quick and absolute that the aging mech feared Gearshift could never return to the more jovial mech had had briefly been.

Gearshift was sparing against Lockdown. The spiked mech had developed an incredible repertoire of fighting techniques over the stellar cycles. He'd grown into a powerful ninja, but had developed into a brutal warrior, showing little remorse when it came to killing enemies. But he, too, had a taste for doing things his own way, often disappearing off into the city to track down any potential jobs. The work of the Ninja Corps did not often interest him. He preferred _bounty hunting_.

Gearshift threw a punch at Lockdown, but the larger mech grabbed his arm, spun around with the limb over his shoulder and threw Gearshift over his head and onto the floor before him. Gearshift cried out as his still-tender shoulder connected with the hard floor whilst the arm it connected to was still in the vice like grip of Lockdown, a break in his armour forming and letting lose a dribble of his Energon. Lockdown showed no sympathy to his friend, only grabbed him by his good arm and pulled him back up to his support servos. Gearshift grunted and shook him off.

"Frag off, Lockdown!" he yelled. Lockdown's optics ridges rose in mild surprise at Gearshift's outburst.

"What's wrong with ya?" Lockdown spat back. "Ya know yer injured, why ya shoutin' at me?"

"Well, I _had _been repaired," Gearshift hissed. "I'm out of here."

Gearshift, servo over his leaking shoulder, stormed out of the dojo, heading into Iacon. Lockdown's optics narrowed as he watched the green and white mech disappear into the bustling crowds absently passing by the dojo. There were so many innocent bots that didn't seem to care about the growing war that would soon consume the lot of them.

* * *

><p>The club was completely dead. Again. Granted, it was still early doors, but Mercury usually had at least one couple of young lovers looking to beat the crowds looking for a fun time by this time of evening. She was so bored that she had to stop herself from falling asleep on the bar. As always, the bartender was stood cleaning cubes behind the bar, but he, too, seemed to be drifting into a stasis nap. Twirl came up to the bar, graceful in her dancelike way of moving, as always. She stopped before Mercury, her faceplate the picture of concern.<p>

"We won't be dancing tonight, will we?" she asked quietly. Mercury didn't say anything, just looked at the younger femme with an empty glance. After a few nanoclicks, she stood up straight and looked at Twirl earnestly.

"I don't know, Twirl," she replied. "We haven't been open for long, we might busy up in time."

Twirl didn't seem to believe her, but nodded and returned to the backstage rooms, looking at the floor as she walked. Mercury sighed and let her cranial unit drop back to the bar with a _thunk._

"Merc, we need to do something about all this," the bartender said. "Advertising, freebies, publicity. Anything, really."

"I know," Mercury replied. "My worry is how much of an effect it would have. Cybertron is at war with itself. It may not be full scale yet, but everybot is feeling it and knows that going for a night out isn't the best way to prepare."

Mercury was right, the bartender knew, but this club was his _life. _He'd been working there for longer than he cared to remember, watching it change servos over the years and keeping a watchful optic on the management, steering the bots in charge towards making the right decisions and preventing anything truly bad from happening. But Mercury was different. She, like him, knew how bots thought, but he was skilled at changing their processor over the slightest thing, subtly changing a bot's ideas and thoughts. It wasn't manipulation, he told himself, it was helping bots make the right choices at the right times. Mercury, however, was almost the opposite. She could not have her processor changed.

But before another word could be said, the front door burst open. Mercury was bolt upright with a false smile on her faceplate in an instant, but the moment she saw Gearshift pass the threshold with a dark expression that could have sent a pack of sharkticons running, her expression fell. He was clutching his shoulder and glaring at nothing in particular, his servo wet with Energon as it seeped between his digits to form small rivulets of purple that dribbled down his back. Mercury grabbed a fresh cloth from beneath the bar and trotted over to him.

"What happened this time?" she asked flatly, trying not to let emotion into her voice. Gearshift's expression didn't change and, on closer examination, she came to feel he was irritated, rather than angry. Maybe a little of both. She pushed him around so his back was facing her, batting away his servo so she could get at the wound. It wasn't anything bad, just a split in the re-welded plating on his shoulder. She gently dabbed at the Energon, awaiting his reply.

"Just an accident at training," he huffed. Mercury sensed something else.

"And?" He said nothing. "You've been out of the infirmary for less than a decacycle and you've already hurt yourself again. What are you like, Gearshift?"

Gearshift grunted but still refused to say anything. Not until Mercury had finished cleaning away the Energon. She threw the cloth away and led Gearshift into her office. She had a small set of tools in there for basic repairs, including the basics for welding. She pushed Gearshift into a chair, his back still to her, and set to work on the break in his shoulder.

"Ouch," Gearshift huffed apathetically as soon as the welder touched his shoulder. Mercury knew he was just playing with her, he made no movement to suggest her was actually hurt. Mercury couldn't help the small smile playing on her lip modules. She wanted to cuff him around the back of the cranial unit, but knew better than to tease him when he was annoyed. The weld was an easy job, completed in the shuttering of an optic, but Gearshift still did not want to talk, even as he rotated his shoulder to test Mercury's handiwork.

"No need to thank me," Mercury said quietly, though Gearshift still heard her.

"I... I'm sorry, Mercury. I'm... no myself," he said, his voice somewhat reserved. Mercury frowned slightly and moved to stand in front of him.

"What's bugging you, Gearshift?" she asked, her voice even. Gearshift shook his cranial unit, a gesture that seemed to suggest he'd given in. But to what, Mercury didn't know.

"Everything's wrong," he mumbled after a moment. "I thought finding my creators' killer would make things better – even more so when I finally deal with him. But... I just feel worse. I'm inadequate, Mercury. I couldn't even escape an obvious ambush. I felt such fear when Swindle told me the truth. I couldn't..." He stopped then, still looking at the floor. After what seem liked forever, his optics moved up the look at Mercury. "I couldn't have protected you."

Mercury didn't know what to think. What did he mean? His tone suggested more than his words did, but she wasn't sure what. She found herself putting a servo to his faceplate, a gesture he was happy to accept. He leant into her servo, enjoying her warm and gentle touch as he shuttered his optics. For a moment, that was all there was; a gentle emotional warmth the two revelled in. Mercury felt her spark pulsing rapidly as her servo caressed his faceplate. His optics snapped open, looking right into hers. He put his own servo over hers and stood, faceplate to faceplate with Mercury, looking deep into her optics. He held her faceplate in his servos and began to lean towards her.

_BOOM!_

Gearshift caught Mercury as the ground shook and she stumbled sideways, holding her up as the few people in the club's main room began to scream and shout. Mercury pushed towards the door, opening it, only to be greeted by the thick smoke of blaster fire. Gearshift hot on her heel struts, she passed through the door and into the chaos, her fog lights flickering on in an attempt to get a better view. But it was futile; the smoke was far too thick.

But then, out of the smoke, a pair of leering purple optics came towards them.

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><p><strong>I'm such a tease ;D<strong>

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	13. Almost

**Eeeeeeeek.**

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* * *

><p><span>Chapter Thirteen: Almost<span>

"Nice to see you in one piece, Gearshift," Swindle spat. "It'll make taking this place so much sweeter, once I blast you apart in front of your little femme friend. Or should I blow her up first?"

Gearshift took his katana in servo and stood between Swindle and Mercury. "You won't touch her."

Swindle sneered at the green mech, taking out one of his many blasters and taking aim. "Oh really? Let's see you stop me."

Gearshift leapt sideways towards the bar, grabbing Mercury with his free servo and taking him with her. The waitresses were hidden behind there, huddled behind the bartender, who had acquired a small blaster from somewhere. Gearshift shoved the purple femme over the bar, where the bartender grabbed her and made sure not to let her run out again. Gearshift leapt onto the bar, dodging left to avoid getting shot by Swindle. The femmes behind the bar screamed as bottles and cubes stacked on the shelves above them shattered, raining glass down on them.

Gearshift jumped and slashed at Swindle, but the Decepticon flicked out a servo and sent a small, spider-like device flying at Gearshift. Its four limbs outstretched, it connected with his wrist, snapping shut and activating. Suddenly, Gearshift's wrist was too heavy for him to hold up.

"What the-?" he yelped. He quickly set to trying to work the thing off, but it didn't budge.

"Funny little thing that," Swindle chuckled. "Got it from an armoury on Thulsa Doom's moon Gwahlar. Curious bunch of people on that moon, but they know how to make a handy gizmo like that one. Careful, if you try to pull it off, it'll snap your servo off."

Gearshift stopped dead then and there, letting go of the device and shifting his katana to his other servo. "Good thing I can use both servos then."

The device would leave him off balance, he knew, but he needed to do what he could to protect the club and the people inside it. He grabbed on to his waist with his inhibited servo, keeping it out of the way. Having it swinging around would throw him off balance.

Gearshift lunged at Swindle, who made a hasty dodge, bumping into a nearby table. He wasn't trained for close combat, Gearshift knew. This was his advantage. But swindle was known to carry an arsenal of gadgets and weapons, most of which he ended up selling to his fellow Decepticons. Hopefully he didn't have any more of those things on Gearshift's wrist.

Gearshift attacked again, this time managing to catch Swindle in the shoulder, exactly where the Con had stuck that electric spike thing in Gearshift. Swindle yelled out as Energon spurted from his shoulder, but it wasn't a terrible wound. He rotated his shoulder before levelling his blaster once again. Swindle fired a barrage of shots, Gearshift jumping and somersaulting across the bar to avoid being hit. The stray shots hit the bar, tables, windows and the stage curtains... which set on fire.

_"The dancers!" _Mercury screamed. They were hidden in the backstage rooms. They'd been there all evening, but when the chaos started, they'd locked the doors and stayed put. The bartender got up and ran to the stage. But the fire was spreading quickly, with most of the stage being in flames by the time the bartender had reached the curtains. He dashed inside and started banging on the doors to each dancer's room, calling for them to come out.

"All of you! The stage is on fire! Get out of here! Through the back door!"

Instantly the doors opened and the screaming dancers fled the scene. Only Twirl seemed unwilling to go. She wanted to stay and support the waitresses trapped behind the bar. Surely, with the bartender's help, she could get them out?

"Twirl, your underlying heroism can wait, _go!" _the bartender shouted. The young dancer began to protest, but when the lights above the stage began to explode with the heat; she turned and ran for the door in panic. The bartender, duty bound to his club, ran to see if the communicator was still functional. It might be only one Decepticon that Gearshift had to take care of, but the fire and the terrified waitresses needed to be taken care of, too. He charged into Mercury's office, glad to see everything, including the communicator, was untouched by fire.

Gearshift's inhibited servo was proving problematic. Even out of the way, it was hampering his fighting skill, and he wasn't so good with his other servo to begin with. But he kept to dodging Swindle's blasters, aiming to drain his weapons before making his own attack. It seemed to be working, as Swindle was throwing used weapons aside as their magazines emptied and he ran out of replacements. Gearshift was agile, and Swindle really wasn't as much of a fighter as one might think, firing shots into spaces vacated by the green and white ninja long ago. But the more Swindle missed, the more agitated he became.

Mercury was looking for a way to evacuate her staff. She didn't want to send them running across the dance floor to get to the front door or to the backstage rooms, both held the risk of becoming a target for Swindle, and the latter was on fire anyway. The storeroom was a possibility. It was just a little way past the bar, but there wasn't a way out through there, no windows or doors. Perhaps it would just be best to stay put for now?

She dared to take a peek over the top of the bar, watching as Gearshift leapt away from another round of blaster fire from Swindle. The ninja was holding his own well enough, but that thing Swindle had used on him was clearly giving him trouble. At the same time, however, Mercury could see how it could be put to an advantage. It might be ungraceful, but maybe Gearshift could swing his arm out and use the added weight of the device to damage Swindle?

It seemed Gearshift was having the same thought, as he leapt into the air above the Decepticon and spun, flinging out his arm and catching Swindle clear across the cranial unit. The Decepticon went flying across the room as Gearshift landed with a roll and got back to his support servos in one swift move. Swindle tried to get back up, servo to his cranial unit, but Gearshift leapt on his back, pinning him down.

"Don't make a move," he green mech warned in a low voice. "I'll cut off your servos if you do." Swindle put his servos flat on the floor to either side of his cranial unit. Gearshift couldn't help but feel a slight rush go through him. He had Swindle right where he wanted him. He could do as he pleased with the murderer of his creators. He could kill him, _slowly, _make him scream out for mercy before finally killing him. But he was a ninja, he had honour. He also had a weighty clamp on his wrist.

"How do I get this thing off?" Swindle didn't answer immediately, so Gearshift pressed his support servo on to his back, pushing his still tender chest plate into the ground. With a wince, Swindle answered.

"The little dots around the edge of the bulb, three of them are buttons," he grunted. "Press them together and it'll pop right off with your servo intact."

His support servo still in place, Gearshift did so, ready to stamp hard on the Con's back if he'd lied. As he'd been told, it came off, leaving his servo perfectly fine. He threw the device to the ground, optics still on Swindle. That rush was still blazing through him. He wanted so badly to destroy the mech pinned beneath him, to tear him limb from limb and leave his Energon to leak onto the floor as he slowly died. But he controlled himself. Swindle was a prisoner of the Autobots now. Gearshift was neither a judge nor an executioner.

And what would Mercury think of him?

A team of Autotroopers burst into the club, weapons in servo and ready for an all out battle. When they saw that Swindle was already incapacitated, they seemed almost disappointed. Gearshift didn't move from where he stood atop the Decepticon, unwilling to yield the source of all his problems so easily. But he knew it had to be done. If he started killing enemy bots, he'd get in trouble with Yoketron, and that old mech already had a dwindling sense of trust in him.

But this was the _murderer of his creators! _The mech that turned his young life upside down, destroyed everything he had, drove him to become such a _fool. _He'd spent his sparkling stellar cycles in an orphanage; he'd been hurt, bullied, tormented, stellar cycle on stellar cycle, too afraid to stand against those who harmed him. He'd grown into a spiteful young mech, doing as he pleased and not caring what trouble he got into, fighting other young mechs and cruelly breaking the sparks of hopeful femmes.

But then he'd met Mercury. Everything had changed then, he'd forgotten his problems, tried to do something _right. _But he still couldn't do right by her. So he'd forced himself through stellar cycles of ninja training, trying to finally better himself.

And now here he was, stood primed to take his revenge with every intention of doing it.

He shuttered his optics and sighed.

"... He's all yours."

* * *

><p><strong>*phew*<strong>

**My darling Flash Bang has been given a small part in a ficlet by deviantArt member, =NiGhT-sTaLkEr13! I'm honoured to have such a talented artist use my OC, even if she's only really used in passing. If you'd like to read it, here's the URL:**

** https:/ night-stalker13. deviantart. com/ gallery/ #/ d4ztj4s **

**(just take out the gaps, blah blah ;D)**

**Be warned, though, the ficlet's all about sexual abuse and is LOADED with profanities.**

**Please review!**

**:P**


	14. Tingling and Teasing

**OMG, I hope you all saw the latest episode of TFPrime because it was the best thing ever!**

**Knockout, you fiend! Getting jealous at Soundwave like that, what on Cybertron? ;)**

**Enjoy! **

**:D**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Fourteen: Tingling and Teasing<span>

Mercury was sat on one of the bar stools, slumped over the bar with an Energon cube in servo. The scene was reminiscent of one seen many a time before by her optics, of the young patrons that should have been filling the club. But she was not drinking to have fun; she was drinking to calm herself. The bartender and the waitress scurried around the club, cleaning up what they could and totting up the cost for repairs. Mercury didn't need to be told how much damage had been done; she already knew their troubles had just stepped into the financial.

Gearshift was stood across from Mercury. His faceplate was contorted into a worried frown as he simply watched her. He felt odd, tapping his digits against the armour of his forearm as he stood there silently. His systems were racing from the fight, even now, cycles after it was over. He couldn't believe himself. He'd given Swindle up to the Autotroopers, after everything he'd been put through because of that damn Decepticon. Swindle had been _his, _and he just let him go! Granted, he was behind bars, and would be for a long, long time. But it was too late for him to cause harm to Swindle. With the Con behind bars, any attack on him would see Gearshift brought before the Autobot council.

But he found that his desire for revenge wasn't his foremost concern at that moment. Mercury was splayed out before him, depressed, anxious and afraid. He had to take care of her, more so than he had been doing. He wanted to see her happy, joyous and full of that tenacious energy that had drawn him to her. He topped up her cube, the sound of glass chinking against glass drawing her faceplate away from the cold metal of the bar. Her optics gave a silent thank you.

"You can't just lay about the bar all night, Mercury," Gearshift said quietly. "Your crew needs you."

"_Our_ crew needs _money," _she moaned. "And where are we supposed to get it? The club's been getting absolutely _no _business lately!"

Gearshift didn't answer immediately. He looked over her faceplate for a moment, seeing absolutely no sign of hope. She was completely resigned to failure. He couldn't let everything she'd worked for over the stellar cycles just fall apart around her, especially seeing as, in all honesty, this mess was all because of Gearshift. She didn't see it that way, he could tell, but _he _did. And didn't he have a say in things as the club's co-owner? He had as much right to decided on the club's fate as she did.

He came to a conclusion.

"I can pull a few strings – in an honest way, I assure you – to get the money," he said finally, his voice firm and decisive. "It'll be in your account within the decacycle."

Mercury's optics widened, her mouth opening slightly as she prepared to argue. But then she saw his faceplate and just how serious he was being. He exuded a sense of certainty, his optic ridges lowered into a matching facial expression. He would not take no for an answer, as much as she may want to persuade him to.

She sat back, finally relaxing, a weak smile on her faceplate. "There really isn't a point in arguing with you, is there, Gearshift?"

Gearshift grinned, feeling a little relieved. "Nope, I'm co-owner, remember?"

"Of course," Mercury replied, her smile widening. "Thank you, Gearshift."

She rose from her seat, pushing the Energon cube away from her. Her confidence was back, though not as strong as it usually was, but her smile grew stronger as she thought over Gearshift's offer. Everything was going to be fine, as long as she had Gearshift with her to keep her spirits up.

Gearshift leapt over the bar, coming to stand beside her. She turned to face him front on, her optics looking over his faceplate for a moment. Her spark began to pulse in such a way that she began to feel dizzy and flushed. Her faceplates heated up as her servo drifted of its own free will towards Gearshift's arm, her digits lightly touching the green armour.

"Thank you," she repeated quietly, a whisper. Gearshift's servo cupped her faceplate, his thumb gently caressing the silver metal. He placed his other servo on her waist, half shuttering his optics and leaning in. Mercury's other servo slid up his chest plate, coming to rest on his shoulder as she stood straight, making herself taller.

Their lip modules touched, pliant metal moving against pliant metal, slight electrical signals tingling and teasing their delicate sensors. Servos glided across smooth armour, Mercury linking her servos around Gearshift's neck, pulling them closer together. He ran his servos down her sides, coming to rest on her hips as he deepened the kiss, glossas battling for dominance inside the moist warmth of their mouths.

Gearshift pulled back ever so slightly, breaking the kiss, his optics half shuttered as he began to speak. "I want to take care of you, Mercury," he whispered to her. "You deserve the world and I want to give it to you." He gave her another, shorter kiss. "I love you."

Mercury's spark began to pulse erratically again and the corners of her optics filled with lubricant tears. She hugged Gearshift tightly, burying her faceplate into his shoulder. "I love you, too."

They kissed again, their systems heating up with the passion. A polite cough interrupted them and they pulled away reluctantly, looking behind Gearshift to see the bartender, who was looking at the floor rather than them, clearly not wanting to observe this passionate display, but equally in need of speaking with one of the two. Mercury tried not to look annoyed at her lifelong friend, but Gearshift let his scowl be seen. They weren't exactly in a private place, though, it had to be said.

"There's somebot from the council here to ask about the attack," he told them. "They're just by the door."

* * *

><p>A few solar cycles later and repairs were under way. Gearshift organised everything, and even saw to a few new additions to the club. Mercury couldn't have been more grateful to him; he'd done so much for her out of his own kindness. And to think, when they'd first met, she'd found him arrogant and deceitful.<p>

But now she felt as if he was a huge part of her life. The kindred spark bond had just been the start of it. He was generous and protective; willing to do whatever it took to take care of her. As she sat in the office, thinking the whole thing through, her optics filled with lubricant tears once more. It was out there now, no hiding it from each other. Not that she'd been hiding it, per se, she just hadn't quite come to realise how real it was until they had kissed. Sure, she knew they were "kindred", but a predestined bond didn't necessarily mean a relationship forming between them was certain.

_There's a thought, _she mused. _Ought I to tell him about this whole "kindred" thing?_

But the two of them were so busy with all the work going on, and Gearshift had been doing a lot of work in secret, apparently planning something big. Only the bartender knew what he was up to, and every time Mercury him what was going on, he'd give her a grin that was between cheeky and knowing, which only served to confuse Mercury further. Whatever it was, it was apparently going to be to her liking.

Gearshift spent time with her as often as he could, which wasn't much due to the workload they'd both taken on. By the end of the working solar cycle, they were both exhausted and in need of recharge, and during the solar cycle they were diligently working their digits to the piston. But Gearshift was adamant that as soon as work was finished, they'd be going out for a _proper _date. Mercury was thrilled at the idea, and made sure he knew.

But what on Cybertron was he planning?

* * *

><p><strong>Fweee~ ^^<strong>

**You all knew it was coming, don't act surprised xD**

**In other news, Mercury and Flash Bang are currently on loan to deviantArt member xLosersRuleTheWorldx, who is rewriting the Japanese novel _Battle Royale _with Transformers OCs replacing the characters. Flash Bang has replaced a character named Yuka Nakagawa, and Mercury has taken the place of a character called Ryoko Anno. And I hate to say it, but Mercury...**

**YOU GONNA GET RAPED!**

**Right anyway.**

**Please review!**

**:D**


	15. The Best to You Both

**Another week goes by and I feel like I've done little to progress in life.**

**Dang, I'm not liking this stage in adulthood.**

**Personal problems aside.**

**Enjoy!**

**:D**

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><p><span>Chapter Fifteen: The Best to You Both<span>

Gearshift insisted that Mercury take a few solar cycles off whilst he watched over the last of the repairs. Mercury had never taken a holiday from work in her life, and was adamant not to leave all the work to Gearshift. He just grinned and told her she was a workaholic. In response, Mercury had quickly changed her processor and organised a visit to see her creators in Tyger Pax – a trip she was long overdue to make. Her creators received her gladly, and completely and utterly spoilt her during her stay. Her creators had always been of a generous attitude, but Mercury was quick to remember that their constant pampering of her was why she left to live in Iacon. Still, it was nice to see them.

After a few solar cycles, Gearshift contacted her.

"_Having a nice time?" _he asked her, sly grin on his faceplate.

"Very," Mercury replied earnestly. "Although Quicksilver, my mech creator, keeps trying to get me hooked up with a local mech." She winked, cheekily.

"_Want me to come over to Tyger Pax and set the record straight?" _he asked suggestively. Mercury's faceplates heated up.

"I think I'll be fine," she replied with a smile. "But I'll let you know if I need you."

Gearshift chuckled. _"Everything back at the club is ready for you to come back," _he began_. "Can't wait to see your faceplate."_

"Why, what have you done?" Mercury asked. Gearshift's sly grin reappeared.

"_You'll have to wait and see."_

* * *

><p>Mercury drove to the club two solar cycles later with an air of caution about her. She was unsure of what to expect, but found herself thinking that Gearshift may have set up a surprise date for the two of them. She quite liked the idea, but didn't let herself become attached to it due to the likely event of her being wrong. Still, she smiled at the idea.<p>

She turned onto the road where the club was. The neon lights were bright, glowing and moving as they should have been, a valid attempt at attracting attention from bots passing by. But Mercury didn't transform and gape at the club because of that – they neon had been there long than she had. She gaped at the banner draped under it.

_GRAND REOPENING TONIGHT!_

Bots of all kinds were crowded around the doors, pressed against the glass and peeking inside. The bouncers were there, keeping everybot in line and trying to keep them all calm. _You're too early; we won't open till this evening! Don't push, put it in idle! I admire your enthusiasm but calm down!_

Mercury couldn't believe what she was seeing. Half of Iacon must have been crowded outside of the doors. There were more bots here than she would usually see queued outside of The Circle. She needed to get inside and find Gearshift, but the front door wasn't an option, something she thought with a smile on her lip modules. She jogged down the alley, dodging between a few eager bots trying to get closer to the door. She did her best to act casual, not wanting anybot to follow her to the back door.

She rounded the corner and pulled out her gate key, letting herself through and coming faceplate to faceplate with an excited looking Gearshift. His excited expression doubled as he saw her.

"You're here!" he cheered. "Brilliant! Seen the crowd? I knew it'd be big but-"

"How did you get so many bots to come?" Mercury gasped. Gearshift chuckled and took her servo.

"Anything is possible when you're in love," he said with a wink, kissing her servo. Mercury couldn't help but laugh.

"How delightfully cheesy," she teased. "You clearly know how to gather a crowd."

"Well, I know a lot of people who owe me," he told her. "In an honest way."

"You feel the need to tell me that often," Mercury pointed out. "I _do_ trust you."

Gearshift's servo tightened around hers, an involuntary reaction. His optics focused on the ground and he didn't say anything more. Mercury bit her lip module. Had she hit a raw sensor?

"When I was younger, living rough, bots never trusted me, and they had every reason not to," Gearshift admitted. "I... I feel the need to assure you. It's my own fault."

Mercury smiled kindly and took his faceplate in her free servo, kissing him firmly. "I don't care about your past," she told him. "Not the bad parts, at least. I can see that you're good and that you're honest, even if you haven't always been. The Gearshift I love is generous and protective."

Gearshift smiled again and looked her in the optic before kissing her. He didn't seem to want to let her go, but pulled himself away after a moment. He still looked unsure of himself, but a smile was playing on his lip modules. Suddenly he perked up again.

"Come inside," he said, eager again. "You need to see the inside."

Mercury followed him inside, unsure of what she'd see. The difference was obvious as soon as she stepped through the door. Everything had been redecorated, repainted and reorganised. The corridor that led from the back door led to the backstage area via another corridor and then to Mercury's office through a door on the right. Everything had been painted purple and pink, with light blue rope lights flashing away around the doors. So much just for the staff? The public part of the building was bound to be amazing!

She was right. The dance floor had been completely replaced with a sleek new one that lit up from beneath with glowing lights that faded into different colours. Brand new disco lights were set up all over the room. Tables made of a glittery black material replaced the old aluminium ones. The bar had been replaced with a sleek curvy one with lights on the underside to help the bartender and his staff see what they were doing. New shelves and glasses lined the walls behind the bar, which were flanked by new, dynamic holomenus.

Mercury did a three sixty as she stood in the middle of the dance floor, taking it all in. All fresh, all new, all _purple. _Gearshift had seen to it that all this had been done, with his own money, out of the kindness of his own spark. And now a massive crowd was clamouring to get inside, megacycles before they were set to open!

"So, what do you think?" Gearshift asked, purring into her audio receptor as he looped an arm around her waist.

"Gearshift..." she breathed. "I never expected anything like this." She suddenly began to laugh, as if relieved. "This is amazing! I can't express-"

_POP!_

Mercury turned to see the bartender, surrounded by his waitress lackeys and the dancers, holding a bottle of sparkling Energon and two expensive-looking crystal cubes. Mercury gasped a little at the sight, but smiled excitedly as a cube was passed to her and the second to Gearshift.

"A toast to a fresh start for the club," Gearshift announced as the waitresses all took up their own drinks. They all raised their cubes excitedly, grins on every faceplate and excitement in every spark.

"To Mercury and Gearshift!" one called out, who promptly hid behind her large colleagues. Laughter escaped the lot of them, but the bartender pursued the notion.

"To Mercury and Gearshift," he repeated, a more serious tone to his voice. "The best to you both."

* * *

><p><strong>D'awww! Who needs obsessively generous parents when you have loving co-workers? :3<strong>

**Pardon my unimaginative naming of Mercury's father; "quicksilver" is just an alternate name for the element mercury.**

**Please review!**

**:P**


	16. Thank You

**I'm sorry there was no chapter last week. My family had a little tragedy and I wasn't in the mood for writing :/**

**Enjoy!**

**:D**

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><p><span>Chapter Sixteen: Thank You<span>

Mercury jogged back and forth, from table to table, round in circles, her trusty tray in servo and a sincere grin on her faceplate. Her servos ached, but she didn't care. They had so many customers that it was almost worth recording for future generations! Mercury could hardly move away from the bar due to the crowd tightly packed in. Where had they all come from? How had Gearshift managed to get them all together?

"I don't know them all in person," he confessed to Mercury as she stood looking dumbfounded at the bots dancing to the beat of the music. "I invited a bunch of people and told them all to bring as many bots as they could get together. Friend of a friend of a friend, you know?"

"It worked," Mercury breathed. "All these bots and so few that I recognise!"

A group of lively bots, who had taken to dancing right in the middle of the dance floor, were clamouring to get Gearshift's attention, jumping up to be seen over the many bobbing cranial units and waving in his direction. Gearshift waved back with a smile on his faceplate.

"They're a good bunch," Gearshift told Mercury. "Not like the group I came in with when we first met."

"Friends from the Ninja Corps?" Mercury asked. Gearshift shook his cranial unit.

"Not quite," he replied. "I met them through various jobs I've done with the Corps, but none of them are ninjas. Most of the bots there are too stoic to be seen here."

"I can imagine," Mercury confessed. "You must be an odd one out there, really."

Gearshift made an "mm" sound in agreement. "I don't think the others like me too much. Not during training, at least. They're not a bunch of angsty bots, really. But they're all much more serious than I am."

Mercury chuckled. "You do seem very light-hearted compared to the few other ninjas I've encountered, though there haven't been many."

"An elusive bunch, we ninjas" he joked. Mercury laughed heartily.

"Fancy that," she chuckled.

More and more bots were coming in, form large groups of young bots to curious individuals looking for a bit of fun. But the group that most caught Mercury's attention was a group of sleek, lightly built racers – _celebrities. _Mercury's optics were drawn to them. There were four bigger, more mature looking mechs leading one more youthful one. The young mech, who had glossy blue armour, seemed amazed at the sight of the club's interior. His bright optics widened as he took in the glowing lights, the stage, the bots dancing like nothing was wrong in the world, and after a moment, a warm and joyous smile spread across his faceplate. This young bot had found the life he wanted to live.

"Every win is followed by a nightlong party, Blurr," one of the older mechs said as they approached the bar, clapping a servo against the young mech's shoulder. "You'll be coming to places like this a lot. Maybe you'll even get into The Circle one day!"

"Yeah, you've got what it takes to make it big, kid," another said. "We'll be asking you to get us into the most prestigious places in Iacon before long."

"I've only won _one _race," the young bot pointed out.

"True, Blurr, but _what a win!" _the third mech said. "I've never seen a rookie dominate the track like you did tonight! Least of all a little rookie!"

"Kid's got talent," the fourth mech grumbled. "Even my blind mech creator could tell you that. Your very spark was made for racing."

Blurr smiled awkwardly. Evidently he wasn't used to being the centre of attention. The fourth mech waved to Mercury, calling her over to serve them.

"What can I get you guys?" she asked. The first mech squeezed Blurr's shoulder.

"What could you suggest for Iacon's newest champion?" he asked, grin on his faceplate. "Don't hold back on the high grade just because he's young. He's a racer like us; it won't do much to him."

Turning to Blurr, she asked, "This is your first time out on the town, young mech?" Blurr nodded shyly. "Let me recommend the Zero. It's not too harsh on the taste sensors, but has one Pit of a kick to it. Has a soft taste of rose's ethanol in the mix. Very pleasant, particularly to a new drinker, but it'll knock you senseless after a couple of rounds."

The third of Blurr's companions laughed loudly. "Nothing knocks a racer senseless. Our systems pump it like regular Energon."

"We'll see about that," Mercury said with a wink. "How about it, sweetspark? Fancy it?"

Blurr's faceplate seemed to light up as Mercury's soothing voice reached his audio sensors. He nodded eagerly. "That sounds fantastic. Thank you."

Mercury expertly whipped up a Zero for Blurr, ignoring the lusty stares of the four older mechs that stood behind her. Gearshift noticed them for the other end of the bar, and finished his conversation with one of his friends in order to go stand with an arm around her waist as she finished the drink. Quickly, the stares dropped.

"Racers are known for their womanising," Gearshift whispered to her. "I won't be far away whilst they're here."

"Don't worry about me," she insisted. "You and I both know that I can handle myself. Go have fun with your friends."

Gearshift frowned at the racers, but they had begun to chat amongst themselves, paying no mind to Mercury until she handed Blurr his drink. Even then, their attention was more on the young racer and his first sip of high grade than it was on Mercury. Although the second racer did cast her a sideways glance briefly, it didn't suggest anything to Gearshift, and so he turned, satisfied, and returned to his friends.

"How does it taste?" Mercury asked Blurr after he swallowed. He winced slightly, but a moment later his faceplate returned to normal and he smiled excitedly before gulping down the rest of the drink.

"Delicious!" he cried. "Can I have another?"

"I'll open a tab," Mercury replied with a giggle.

A few megacycles passed, which saw Blurr and his companions drink and drink and drink. As with every other racer Mercury had ever served, the older four didn't get over energised no matter how much she gave them. But Blurr, on the other servo, did. After five more Zeros, a Bloody Z, three Latta Collins', a little bit of very wobbly dancing and two bottles of Nova Cronal Energon, Blurr was in need of being dragged from his seat and taken home. As Blurr's still-sober companions took him to the door, his cranial unit drooped. He'd fallen into recharge. With a smile on her lip modules, Mercury felt certain that the young blue racer would have a very foggy memory of his first night out.

* * *

><p>Clean up that night after everyone had finally gone was a huge job. Cubes and bottles were everywhere, glitter and confetti needed sweeping up, balloons had popped or deflated, but the staff patiently went about their work, cleaning everything up. Gearshift took up a broom and began to sweep glitter, Mercury, meanwhile, was washing cubes whilst chatting to the bartender, who was bring the cubes to her.<p>

"This has been an incredible night!" Mercury cried. "We've taken so many credits, I can't believe it! Everyone was having fun – they're all bound to come back again."

"Yeah, and those racers might spread the word about us," the bartender mused. "That'll draw even more bots in."

"We may have to limit capacity," Mercury wondered. "It got a little too crowded, I think."

"We'll see to that."

It didn't take Gearshift long to sweep up, not with the help of Twirl, who had ended up taking quite a shine to him since his return. They had become good friends, and Mercury was overjoyed to see that. Gearshift thanked her as she skipped away with the tray full of glitter, heading for one of the rubbish receptacles in the back of the club, after which he turned and headed over to Mercury. The femme grinned and took his servo as he came to stand with her.

"Thank you so much," she said to him. "This has been incredible. And all thanks to you."

"Your staff deserve the thanks," Gearshift told her. "I just planned things; I'm not the most practical of bots when it comes to renovating."

Mercury smiled, knowing that was that. She leant forwards and kissed him, a long and gentle kiss that simply said, "_Thank you."_

* * *

><p><strong>Squee~<strong>

**There won't be a chapter next week because I'll be on holiday- **

***shot* x.x**

**Please review!**

**:D**


	17. Club Mercury

**It still counts as posting on Monday if the site's server still says Monday, right? Cos it's six minutes into Tuesday here :') Whoops.**

**Enjoy!**

**:D**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Seventeen: Club Mercury<span>

Gearshift was sat in the office one afternoon when Mercury arrived. A few decacycles had passed since the club's grand reopening, each one as busy as the last. Mercury had been run off her support servos every night, but the grin she seemed to permanently wear told everyone that she was too happy to protest to her workload. Gearshift, however, was certain to set her up with some time off every few solar cycles and refused to listen to her protests if she disagreed. She knew when the busy nights were better than anyone and even seemed able to sense when masses of customers were coming. Gearshift jokingly wondered to himself how long she'd been working there to develop such a skill.

As Mercury entered the office, Gearshift had a datapad in one servo and a thoughtful expression on his faceplate. Mercury assumed he was looking over the numbers – the previous night had been spectacularly busy – but he spoke up with quite a different topic.

"We should rename the club," he declared. "A new name for a new face."

Mercury couldn't disagree. Club _Venus _had often given out the wrong impression, but what alternatives did he have in mind?

"How about Club _Mercury?" _he offered. Mercury started slightly, although she soon told herself she should have guessed that would have been his first choice. She smiled slightly, thoughtfully.

"I don't know, Shift," she replied, laughing slightly. "Run it past everyone else first-"

"I already did," Gearshift replied, a cheeky smile on his faceplate. "They unanimously agreed. You and this club go servo in servo, Mercury. It ought to be named after you."

Mercury chuckled, looking down at the floor. "Whatever you say, Gearshift," she said, smiling. "Let's do it."

Gearshift smiled back and stood from his seat, coming to stand before Mercury. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her. It was always a pleasure to him to see her, regardless of the situation. He loved to scoop her up and hold her close to his chest. She fitted perfectly against his chest, her own curves complementing his more angular features. He never wanted to let her go, but he dropped his arms, allowing her to move back. She simply looked at him for a moment, putting a servo against his faceplate. To her, he looked like there was something else he wanted to ask.

"I'm looking to move into a bigger apartment," he told her. "Would... would you like to move in with me when I find somewhere?"

Mercury was a little taken aback, but after a moment she threw herself into another hug, burying her faceplate into his shoulder.

"Gearshift, I'd love to!" she squealed, hugging him tightly. He seemed surprised by her enthusiasm, but he was overjoyed to hear her agree. He wrapped his arms around her even tighter than before, lifting her up off her support servos slightly. She giggled like a sparkling as he did so, her spark pulsing erratically with her joy. It was the first time in a while when she had noticed her spark's reaction to Gearshift, it had become so normal to her. Suddenly she remembered then about what Perceptor had said about kindred sparks. To this day she was unsure if she should tell Gearshift. It wasn't a bad thing by anyone's standards, but at the same time, telling him such a thing seemed... awkward. Such a concept seemed to lock them into their relationship. It felt like a trapping themselves and Mercury didn't want them to feel that way.

"If we're moving in together, I'm having a say in where you move to," Mercury said teasingly as Gearshift set her down. Gearshift laughed heartily.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he replied. "I'm sure you have a much better optic for property than I do."

Mercury chuckled. "My femme creator is an interior designer and my mech creator is a property developer – I _ought_ to have a good idea!"

* * *

><p>Gearshift and Mercury took a few solar cycles off to go house hunting. They agreed that somewhere in one of Iacon's quieter districts would be preferable, but didn't want to be too far from the club. Something spacious but not over the top; as long as there was enough room for the two of them to be comfortable, it would be fine. Gearshift liked the idea of one with a balcony where they could stand and look out over the lights of Iacon, but they were far more expensive. But Mercury liked the idea, too, and endeavoured to find somewhere suitable.<p>

They spent an age with the estate agent, working avidly to find somewhere perfect. Everyday they'd seen several new places, but none of them felt right. This one had too small a living room, that one didn't have a nice view, those last few were all too noisy.

"This one is a real gem," the estate agent declared to Mercury and Gearshift as she showed them another apartment. She seemed drained by their constant ability to find fault in the properties she showed them. "Two berthrooms, very roomy living room, wash rack in the room over there. The master berthroom has access to a small balcony, too. It has a lovely view over Avalon Boulevard, here I'll show you."

First impressions were certainly good. The apartment was clean and mostly white, with blue and silver accents all over the place. The furniture was elegant and looked comfortable and the fixtures and fittings all reminded Mercury of her creators' own work. Everything was so _pristine._

The estate agent took them through to the master berthroom where there was another door. This one was made of one way glass, the outside being reflective and the inside clear, and let them see out onto the little balcony, which had a black-tinted glass barrier around it. Gearshift jogged over to the door and let himself through, taking the first look. Mercury could practically hear him grin.

"Mercury, come look at this!" he called back to her. "It's beautiful!"

Mercury went to join him, looking down at the streets below as he looped an arm around her waist as he often did when they stood together. She seemed to stop functioning for a brief moment when she saw the view. It was stunning! Lights glittering like LEDs all around them, twinkling as bodies moved past them. It was like looking up into the night sky, at the stars and the planets and the moons that orbited around them. It was wonderful.

The agent quickly took them around the rest of the apartment, showing them the luxurious rooms and talking about the neighbours. All quiet, respectable citizens, no secret Decepticons here, she promised. Both Mercury and Gearshift were completely taken with the place, but how much did it cost?

"It's... a little over your suggested budget," the agent admitted. "But not by too much; just fifty thousand credits."

"Not _much?" _Mercury repeated, but Gearshift just chuckled.

"We'll take it," he told the agent. "It's just what we want."

"But-" Mercury began. But Gearshift just gave her _that look _and took the datapad offered by the estate agent, quickly signing the contract on it and handing it back.

"Fantastic," the agent said. "I'll get everything sorted out and you'll be able to move in next decacycle. I'll call you when everything is ready."

* * *

><p>Everything was boxed and ready to go. Gearshift was due to arrive with a friend of his to help move everything to the new apartment. Mercury still couldn't believe that he'd singlehandedly paid the extra fifty thousand credits the estate agent wanted! Then again, she reminded herself, he'd done nothing to suggest he wouldn't do such a thing since his return. Still, she'd find a way to pay him back.<p>

Gearshift and his friend arrived not long later. Mercury was surprised to see that his friend was a colossal bot that transformed into a transport platform, usually for carrying other bots. Gearshift introduced him as Grandus.

"He's from the Ninja Corps," Gearshift told Mercury. He'd gone ahead of Grandus to speak with Mercury privately. "I'm your friend and I'm helping you to move in, okay? They can't know about us."

"Why not?"

Gearshift looked sullen. "Protocol."

Mercury looked at the floor. "I see."

Gearshift stole a quick, firm kiss before darting back outside to greet Grandus and to introduce him to Mercury. He helped Mercury carry boxes out to Grandus and place them on his vehicle mode's platform. All the while, Mercury bore a sad expression. It wasn't obvious, she just looked as if she were sad to be leaving her old home, but in truth, she was confused about why Grandus and the other ninjas couldn't know about their relationship. What protocol was there that forbade relationships for the ninjas? Gearshift wasn't embarrassed of her, was he? He probably wouldn't be with her if he was, she told herself. No, there was a legitimate reason for his behaviour; she just didn't know it yet.

The new apartment wasn't far from Mercury's old home. She and Gearshift sat atop Grandus for the journey, but neither spoke. Gearshift seemed to have sensed Mercury's confusion, but couldn't speak to her about it with Grandus in their presence. Grandus remained silent, too, apparently sensing the tension. Soon, they were there.

"Thank you for your help, Grandus," Mercury said to the mech. He towered over her and was about five times broader than her, too. But he was a pleasant mech, happy to help and very friendly.

"Any time, Mercury," he replied. He had work to do, so he left once everything had been taken inside. Mercury was still silent, but Gearshift knew he had to say something.

"I'm sorry about that, Mercury," he said as he placed the last of the boxes down. "I hate lying about you to the other ninjas, but you can't imagine how much trouble I'd be in if Yoketron found out about us."

Mercury just nodded, still not speaking. He was going about this the wrong way. "It'd hurt you, too, if they found out," he continued. "They have a _lot _of influence in Iacon."

"I'm sure they do," Mercury said flatly, taking a box into the master berthroom. Gearshift followed her.

"How about we go out, once we're unpacked?" he offered. "We could go get some dinner at Robotoni's."

"I'd rather stay in for the night," Mercury replied. She refused to look at him, so he took her arm and pulled her round, forcing her to look at him and to see that he was _sorry._

"You close up when you're upset," he told her. "It doesn't help." Mercury looked away, but he took her faceplate in his servo. "Look at me. You know I'm sorry."

He was right, but she didn't want to admit it. It was written all over his faceplate and she knew him well enough by now to know when he was putting it on. She sighed and smiled whimsically.

"I can see that you are," she said slowly. "But I still don't understand why you can't be in a relationship."

"That's for another day," Gearshift said. "Right now, I have a question for you."

"Oh?"

Gearshift smiled slyly, taking her servos in his. "Will you bond with me?"

* * *

><p><strong>Yaaaaay! ^^<strong>

**Thank you for your patience whilst I was away. I'll try not to have gaps between chapters from now on. It's just harder to find the time to write when I'm working such silly hours.**

**Please review!**

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	18. A Great Big Lie

**!WARNING!**

**This chapter contains some mild dirty-ness - nothing bad, but I just thought I'd let you know ;)**

**Don't look at me like that! I'm nineteen years old, I can write what I want! ;D**

**Enjoy!**

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* * *

><p><span>Chapter Eighteen: A Great Big Secret<span>

_What am I doing? _Gearshift thought to himself as he lay awake, a recharging Mercury wrapped in his arms. _I love her so much, but Yoketron... if Yoketron finds out about this, I'm scrap. But for her... for Mercury I would battle the universe itself, just so I could see her smile. I would defy fate just to bring her a gift. I would stop time just so I have the chance to tell her that I love her. _Gearshift closed his optics, taking a moment to resign himself to his choice, to Mercury. Above all else, she was all he cared about. He would defect from the ninjas if he had to, he would turn his back on everything he had trained for, whatever it took to be with Mercury forevermore.

Mercury wriggled in her recharge, tightening the grip she had on one of Gearshift's servos. Their sparks pulsed as one now; nothing could separate them. But Gearshift couldn't help but worry about the ninjas finding out. It wasn't exactly hard to hide being bonded, but there were clear signs if you knew what to look for. As far as Gearshift knew, only one of the ninjas would know the signs – Yoketron himself – and his reasons for forbidding bonding were well known to the ninjas he trained. And it was because of the reason that Gearshift avoided telling Mercury.

Yoketron himself had once been bonded, back when he himself was a young ninja. The femme had been everything to him, his pride and joy and everything he stood for. He had vowed to protect her with his skills, but in the end, it was because of what he was capable of that she was killed. It had left him emotionally unstable for a long time, threatening his ability and usefulness. But he came to feel as if it had been another of life's lessons, that it had shown him that, in the end, love only caused problems.

But Gearshift had grown stronger because of his love for Mercury. Because of her and her alone was he driven to better himself. Because of her, he had grown into the good natured and gracious bot he now was, and Mercury loved him for it. Mercury loved the true goodness in him and, in all honesty, he quite liked the goodness in him, too. He felt better about himself these solar cycles, but still looked back on his past with remorse. He'd let Swindle go, after everything that that mech had done, everything that he was responsible for, he had just let him go. Granted, he was behind bars, and probably would be forever. But he was still the murderer of Gearshift's creators – two of the most sincere and good bots he'd ever known. Gearshift's spark felt tense as he thought of them. He missed them so much.

His silent distress fed into Mercury's spark, waking her. _Damn, _Gearshift thought to himself, _I need to learn to reign in my emotions. Can't have this happen every night._

"What's wrong, Shift?" she asked quietly, sounding groggy from recharge. She giggled slightly and wriggled into him. "I can feel your upset."

Gearshift didn't answer right away. "... I just... started thinking about my creators," he whispered softly. "Don't worry. Go back to recharge."

"Have you even had any yet?" she asked. Gearshift kissed the back of her neck.

"Don't worry about me," he replied. "I'm fine."

"Alright," she said, not sounding convinced. But soon enough she settled back into recharge, Gearshift following suit soon after.

* * *

><p>Mercury had never been happy to wake from recharge as she was that morning. Onlining her optics to see her bondmate still recharging was a wonder to see. Her, bonded? It was never something she thought she'd see happen, but there they were! She and Gearshift cuddled together as they lay on the cushioned berth, enjoying the shared warmth and how their bodies seemed to perfectly fit together. Mercury stayed still so as not to wake Gearshift, wanting to watch him as he woke up. It wasn't long before he did, and as his optics flickered online he smiled down at her, revelling in the warm and loving look she was giving him. He kissed her softly, but suddenly the previous night's activities came to processor and his kisses heated up. Mercury received his kisses and caresses without argument, virtually purring as he levered himself on top of her, his crotch plate warm against hers. Their surging sparks spurred their lusty touches and before long they were repeating the <em>previous night's activities<em>. Their sparks danced together, lighting up the room with their brilliant white light. The sensation of their sparks touching sent them both into overload, after which they had another brief recharge.

* * *

><p>"I need to be at the dojo later," Gearshift said after downing a full cube of Energon. He needed the fuel after all the interfacing; hopefully the ninjas wouldn't notice the... distractedness... he was sure to demonstrate that solar cycle. Mercury was sat at the kitchen table, a cube in her servo and a sly smile on her faceplate.<p>

"Very well," she said. "I think... I think I'll take the solar cycle to myself. I mean, I ought to get settled, shouldn't I?"

Gearshift chuckled. "I'm surprised you can even walk after that."

"Oh, you're good, Gearshift," she replied with a cheeky smile. "But not _that _good." She winked at his fake-hurt expression.

Gearshift readied himself and headed off not long later, leaving Mercury alone. For a long while, she simply sat sipping her Energon as she recovered from their antics during the night.

She was bonded. She had to keep reminding herself of it. She and Gearshift were one now and nothing could drive them apart. But what about his mysterious edginess when it came to the ninjas' view on him bonding? Why wouldn't Gearshift explain to her? Why was it secret anyway? She longed to know, not just out of curiosity but because she didn't like that their new life together was starting out with a great big secret.

* * *

><p><strong>:( Poor Merc. Ah well, as they say: "Don't care! Had sex."<strong>

**Seriously! NINETEEN! GROWN UP! MATURE!**

**Well, maybe not "mature" but oh well.**

**Please review!**

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	19. Sparkling

**Oh look! A chapter of a length worth noting!**

**Enjoy!**

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* * *

><p><span>Chapter Nineteen: Sparkling<span>

Mercury was humming out a tune as she wiped down tables. The club was closed and everyone was cleaning up Club Mercury. Mercury was still unsure about the name, but everyone seemed more than happy for it to stay. Gearshift was on a job with the dojo and wouldn't be back for a few solar cycles. Mercury felt strange little twinges in her spark every so often, bringing her to wonder if they were caused by Gearshift being hurt. She didn't know, but guessed she'd find out once he returned. As long as she continued to feel him, she knew he was, at the very least, alive.

There was a knock at the front door to the club. Mercury looked up, her jaw dropping slightly as her optics fell upon the brilliant yellow armour of her old friend and co-worker Sol. To her right stood a mech, tall and red and blue and cuddled against her left side was a little light blue sparkling, snoozing against its femme creator. Mercury gasped at the sight of them before running to open the door.

"Sol?" Mercury cheered. "I didn't know you were back in Iacon!"

Sol burst through the door and gave Mercury a huge bear hug, squeezing her tightly with one arm as she continued to hold onto the little sparkling with the other. The mech chuckled at the display, taking the sparkling from its femme creator and cradling it in his thick, strong arms.

"We came just yesterday for a holiday," Sol explained. "Let me tell you – Praxus is a great place for us, Nex works with the police force and the city has the best schools for little Quake here. The clubs are rocking and _perfect _for someone in my line of work. But hey, I'm a creator now; I have to worry about my little mech here."

The little sparkling cradled in Nex's arms awoke and waved sleepily. Mercury waved back, a little grin on her face. "What a cuite," Mercury chuckled. "How old is he?"

"Five stellar cycles," Sol said proudly. "He's learning fast under the teachers in Praxus."

"I can't believe how long it's been since you left," Mercury breathed.

"I know," Sol replied, a whimsical smile on her faceplate. "A whole one hundred stellar cycles. We have a _lot _of catching up to do, Mercury."

"Absolutely!" Mercury agreed. "Where are my manners? Come in!"

Sol and her family followed Mercury inside; the purple femme laughing slightly at Sol's stunned reaction at the new decor. She stood stock still in the centre of the dance floor, just like Mercury had, taking it all in. The yellow femme seemed completely and utterly dumbfounded by the changes, by how bright and colourful and lively everything looked, even though it was empty! She turned o Mercury, a happy but questioning look on her faceplate.

"Club _Mercury _is working well then?" she asked with a chuckle. "I knew giving this place to you was a good idea."

Mercury put her servos up. "I hardly did anything," she confessed. "It's Gearshift you should be thanking."

Sol's expression turned from happy to sour, her optics narrowing slightly. "That slagger is still around? I thought he'd fragged off to join the ninjas?"

Mercury tried not to scowl – Sol hadn't come to know Gearshift since his return like she had. Still, she folded her arms and stood a little straighter. Sol was overbearing and outspoken, something Mercury had grown used to before she had left. But after a hundred stellar cycles of not seeing her, the yellow femme's abruptness was a sudden shock to her. Not only that, but to tell Sol that she was now bonded to the mech that she had seen as nothing more than scum would surely send her into a complete fit. This was going to be an interesting catch up.

Sol was looking at her expectantly, her raised optic ridge demanding an explanation. There was no way to avoid telling her about Gearshift and _everything _that had happened now. Mercury ran her glossa over her upper lip module before speaking.

"It's a long story," she began slowly. "But I don't have anywhere else to be."

* * *

><p>"You <em>bonded <em>with him?" Sol screeched. The bartender had been snoozing behind the bar. Not anymore. The yellow femme rose from her seat in exasperation, but Mercury just leant back and kept her cool. That was the biggest difference between the two femmes – Sol was as loud as loud can be, whereas Mercury preferred subtlety and a softer tone of voice. But Mercury wasn't going to back down.

"Yes," she said firmly. "He isn't anything like he was when we first met him, Sol. The ninjas... they really helped him. He's a much better bot now. He paid for almost every improvement on the club. He helps out as often as he can. He paid the majority for the apartment we live in now."

"Sounds like he's just getting on your good side with money," Sol snarled.

"And we have what is referred to as _kindred _sparks – we're meant for each other," Mercury added. "Even before we bonded, I could feel him in my spark. I felt so pained when he was hurt, so empty when he wasn't nearby. I just want him to be close, to be _safe, _and I can't help it. It's just natural."

Sol scoffed. "Kindred sparks? You've been reading too many sparkling stories recently."

"Says you," Mercury snapped, thinking of Sol's sparkling. The anger building up in her was surprising to herself, but Sol was too flabbergasted to notice. "Look, I never expected you to accept this. But at _least _give him a chance. He's due back in a couple of solar cycles. Just... just speak with him again. You'll see. For me."

Sol was not convinced, but Mercury had always meant a lot to her. She cast a quick glance at the bartender, who gave her a steady look that told her to _go with it._ Sol sighed and relaxed her shoulders, but there was still an edge in her optics as she looked back at Mercury.

"Fine," she said quietly. "But I won't be rolling out the welcome wagon as soon as he gets here."

* * *

><p>Gearshift arrived back in Iacon just two solar cycles later and went almost immediately to the club. Sol and her family were waiting there alongside Mercury and as soon as he saw the yellow femme tapping her digits impatiently against the armour of her forearm and he turned on his heel strut and walked back out. Mercury rolled her optics and chased after him, bringing him back inside and making him present himself to Sol. However, any harsh comments due to come out of her mouth were stopped by the sudden cheerful greeting that Nex offered to Gearshift.<p>

"Gearshift! I haven't seen you since you were in Praxus!" he cheered, shaking Gearshift's servo. Gearshift grinned at him.

"I haven't been back there since that job," he explained. "How has everything been? We didn't make too much of a mess, did we?"

"Nah, it all got cleaned up in no time," Nex replied. "I never got a chance to thank you for helping us."

Sol was completely taken aback by her bondmate's cheerful regard of the green mech before them. Her mouth hung open in complete shock as the two of them happily chatted away, Nex's attitude towards Gearshift making it all too obvious that he was fond of him. The two spent quite some time catching up, Sol remaining completely silent throughout until finally she just sat down with a loud _humph, _attracting the attention of the two mechs.

"Oh, sorry, Sol," Nex said sheepishly. "I hadn't realised it was _this _Gearshift."

"And what's so special about him?"

"He's one of the greatest bots I have ever had the fortune of meeting," Nex replied. Gearshift smiled thankfully behind him, his chest plate puffing out a little in pride. Sol pulled a face and looked away, still unconvinced. Gearshift stepped in.

"Sol, I know I haven't been the best of bots, certainly not back when we met before," he began, "but I've changed. I'm better now. And it's thanks to Mercury that I found it in myself to do so. Please, I can't expect you to suddenly like me just because your bondmate does, but... but could you at least afford me another chance to redeem myself to you? If not for me, then for Mercury?"

Sol looked at him sideways, having turned to face away from him. She still didn't seem convinced, but the expression she was pulling suggested she was finding it hard to resist his little speech. She shuttered her optics and sighed.

"Fine," she hissed quietly. "But only because Mercury seems to have fallen cranial unit over heel struts for you."

Gearshift smiled. "Thank you, Sol. I won't let you down this time."

* * *

><p>Mercury was sat cross legged on the berth with a datapad on her lap when Gearshift entered the berthroom. The two had returned home for the night and were settling down for recharge. The datapad was showing a "guide for new femme creators", which Gearshift noticed when he sat down behind her and peeked over her shoulder.<p>

"You're getting broody," he chuckled, kissing her faceplates. Mercury tensed and sat a little straighter.

"No I'm not," she insisted. But Gearshift had caught on already.

"I saw how much you were doting on little Quake," he teased. "He's a cute little kid. But I bet any sparklings we ever have would be a whole lot cuter."

"Are you-"

"Hinting? Yes."

Mercury was a little stunned. Not because she didn't want to have a sparkling – she really did – but because of Gearshift's enthusiasm about the idea. But before she could say anymore he was kissing her fiercely, his servos tracing her frame and playing with the seam of her chest plate. Before long, their sparks were dancing together, but differently than normal. Mercury felt such delight as their sparks glowed and pulsed and danced, embracing the emotions and thoughts and feelings the two shared for each other. Their sparks merged for a moment that Mercury never wanted to end – a moment of such perfect bliss and harmony that she couldn't help but feel so wonderfully euphoric. But then, all too soon, it was over.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so, Sol, Nex and Quake aren't strictly speaking OCs. Sol is based on Solus Prime and Nex is based on Nexus Prime - both from the Original Thirteen Transformers. Quake is based off Landquake, who is one of the five bots that make up Nexus Prime. I put Solus and Nexus together because it's suggested in Transformers: Exiles that they were in love.<strong>

**Anyway. So! Babies, eh? GUESS _WHO_ THAT MEEEAAANS! 8D 8D 8D**

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	20. Flash Bang

**Ah, another week, another update :)**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><span>Chapter Twenty: Flash Bang<span>

The bartender's welcoming look at seeing Mercury enter the club was only half gone when she announced the news, leaving his faceplate half frozen between happy and gobsmacked. The look was comical, but Mercury was not about to laugh right then. This was serious – happy serious, but serious nonetheless.

"You're _sparking?" _he finally choked out. Mercury shrugged, her lip modules pursed.

"Yep," she said as if it meant nothing. "When I saw Sol with Quake I just... I knew I wanted a sparkling of my own and Gearshift was more than happy to help me out there."

The bartender chuckled. "I can imagine he was," he replied. "Well, you'd better take the next few lunar cycles off, eh? Don't want you getting stressed and hurting the sparkling."

"Will you be alright without me?" Mercury asked earnestly.

The bartender put a servo over his spark and raised the other. "I'm certain we'll survive," he said overdramatically. "It may be a struggle, but we'll make it, I'm sure."

Mercury chuckled and threw her own servos in the air. "Whatever," she said. "But I'm not exactly going to be running to your rescue if you _do _need me."

The bartender shook his cranial unit, a smile on his faceplate. "Honestly, Merc, we'll be fine." He paused a moment and looked closely at her, his smile growing as he realised just how happy she was now. Her life was secured, it seemed. She had a home of her own, a bondmate and a sparkling on the way. Everything was coming up Mercury and it showed in the way she looked, how she _glowed _with joy and positive energy and how that genuine smile just never left her faceplate. She was on top of the world and the bartender didn't want to see her fall.

"Best of luck with your sparking, Mercury," the bartender said warmly. "You'd better pop in with the little monster once it's protoformed."

"I will do," Mercury replied with a grin.

* * *

><p>"Have you told your creators yet?" Gearshift asked one afternoon. He was having a solar cycle off and was taking good care of Mercury. About one orbital cycle had passed since he had sparked Mercury and she had told most of the bots she knew already. But Mercury hadn't once mentioned her creators since she'd started telling people. Gearshift understood the importance of creators – because he'd lost his own, he had come to feel that the bond between other creators and their creations was something that needed to be cared for.<p>

Mercury didn't answer right away, instantly telling Gearshift that the answer was no.

"I'm not exactly sure how to tell them," she admitted. Gearshift shrugged.

"Ring them up and say, "Hey, guys, guess what? I'm carrying your grand-sparkling!" or something to that effect," Gearshift replied nonchalantly. Mercury huffed, pretending to be impatient.

"Well! I'll get right on that!" she said sarcastically. But then she paused to think about it seriously. "I _will _tell them. But..."

"But what?" Gearshift interjected. "What is so bad about letting them know?"

"It's not that I don't want them to know," she said. "But they're the sort of bots who feel like the world will end if they don't do _everything _they can. They're generous but... _too _generous. They'll take care of us if I ask them to, but I don't want them pouring over the sparkling."

Mercury was glowing around the edges of the panels that made up her abdomen, a clear sign that the sparkling was close. She put her servos against the raised metal, optics shuttered, and took a deep intake, letting the cool air whir through her systems briefly. She was about to continue when warnings started flashing up across her head's up display. Blaring signals flashed across her vision telling her that the sparkling was ready to be delivered.

"Mercury?" Gearshift yelled as he saw her slide from the sofa. Suddenly she was screaming in agony and all Gearshift could think was, "Oh, slag."

* * *

><p>"We need a protoform! RIGHT NOW!" the medic yelled as he charged into the ward. Mercury was screaming her vocal processor out as the plating around her abdomen opened up to reveal a bright new spark, glowing healthily and strong. The nurses worked diligently to ease it out as a protoform was brought in. Gearshift didn't know what to do with himself, half wanting to get in on the action and help Mercury and half wanting to stay as far away as possible. The nurses didn't seem to pay him mind as they worked away, preparing the protoform and extracting the little spark sealed within Mercury. It was a tough job, and Gearshift eventually decided that he'd best keep his distance, sitting in a chair provided for him.<p>

It was megacycles later when the nurses breathed a sigh of relief and stepped back, allowing Gearshift to charge forward and skid to a halt on his knees by the berthside. Mercury was cuddling a little red and orange sparkling against her chest plate. It was such an adorable creature, so small and delicate, but Gearshift could already feel the strong and fiery young being it would become.

"It's a femme," Mercury replied. "Isn't she sweet?"

"What are we going to name her?"

Mercury paused a moment to think, but then noticed the small circular panels on the little sparkling's palms. With a gently stroke of Mercury's thumb, the panel slid open and a small flash bang charge popped out. The charge was a dud, but even so, Mercury knew what to name her.

"Flash Bang."

The little sparkling gurgled and giggled as she played with Mercury's digits, already eager and interested in the world around her. Mercury rocked her back and forth as she hummed a lullaby, one her own femme creator had sung to her time and time again when she was a little sparkling. It was soft and rhythmic, and soon the little red sparkling was deep in recharge against her femme creator's chest.

"She's beautiful," Gearshift breathed. "So beautiful... But... red and orange?"

Mercury chuckled. "My mech creator is orange, she probably gets it from him," Mercury replied, speaking quietly so as not to wake little Flash Bang up. "He has a little red on him. I think it suits her."

Gearshift nodded. "She's gorgeous," he said, chuckling in amazement. "I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful little sparkling."

Another bot entered the ward then, helping a nurse carry in some supplies. "I really have to go," he said apologetically. "I've finished my contract; they need me back at the dojo."

Gearshift went tense as he heard that word. Looking up, his optics fell on the well kept armour of Devcon – one of the other ninjas. Devcon saw Gearshift, the green mech's arm around the new femme creator's shoulders, and instantly made the connection.

"Gearshift? What on Cybertron is this?" he demanded. Gearhisft was up on his support servos and pushing Devcon out into the hall in a moment's notice. Devcon didn't resist, but was clearly infuriated by his colleague's antics.

"Dev, please, let me explain," Gearshift began. But Devcon wasn't having any of it.

"You have a _sparkling?" _Devcon fumed. "Do you realise what you've _done? _The amount of danger you've put this femme in?"

"Shut up, Devcon!" Gearshift hissed. "It's won't _get _dangerous if you keep this to yourself!"

"You've done some stupid things in the time I've known you but this really take the Energon goodie cake," Devcon spat. "I can't believe you. You ignored our master's warnings and dragged an innocent into our midst?"

"She has _nothing _to do with you and never will," Gearshift growled. "Think about it, Devcon, she'll only be in danger if everyone _knows _about her. If she's a secret, she's safe. If you go and _tell _people, she'll be known and _then _things will start to get messy."

Devcon paused to think about this, his faceplate cold and stern. But as he thought, his expression softened and he sighed in defeat. "Fine, Gearshift," he said, too quietly. "But you shouldn't have bonded with her."

"I fell in love with her before I joined the Ninja Corps," Gearshift told him. "I joined _because _of her."

"Whatever," Devcon spat. "Keep it to yourself, I don't want to know. But if Yoketron catches on, I'm on his side."

Devcon shoved Gearshift out of the way, his usual cheery disposition completely gone. He stormed down the hall and disappeared from view, leaving Gearshift to just stare blankly at the wall.

"By the slagging Pit," he growled as he dropped his cranial unit against the wall.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh, balls. D:<strong>

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	21. Cold Blood

**I am _so _tired today, it's unbelievable. I genuinely thought I would end up sleeping all evening rather than get this sorted Dx**

**Enjoy!**

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* * *

><p><span>Chapter Twenty-One: Cold Blood<span>

"One more time, Flash," Gearshift instructed. "Remember to use your hips."

Flash Bang had grown into a tall young femme, lightly built but clearly strong. She was a natural at what Gearshift taught her, picking up ninja techniques without a second thought. But she _knew _she was good, and was rather cocky because of it. She tried again, as instructed, punching the training dummy square in its chest. It went flying back and Flash Bang leapt into the air, squealing her joy.

"I'm _so _good at this! I bet I could beat _you _any solar cycle, eh, Shift?" she cheered, looking up at her mech creator with a huge grin. He put a servo on her spiky helm and jiggled her cranial unit.

"Don't go getting too big for your armour, Flash," he chided. "You've still got a lot to learn."

Flash Bang shrugged. "Maybe, but _one _solar cycle I'll be able to take you on – _and_ win!"

Gearshift chuckled. "Maybe," he said. Flash Bang looked back at the training dummy, her back turned to Gearshift. A cheeky smile spread across his faceplate as he took a bo staff from a rack on the wall, readying it as he approached the young femme. But she must have sensed his approach, as she spun around and grabbed the staff, wrenching it free and bringing back around to strike Gearshift in the side of the cranial unit. But Gearshift blocked it and grabbed onto it as Flash Bang had, but she was ready for him to do so and let go, using the force he'd built up to pull the staff free against him, letting him stumble and giving her an opening to dash forwards and strike him with a solid uppercut to the abdomen.

"Oof!" he gasped as his intakes were forced out of him, but he fell to his knees with a proud smile on his faceplate. "Well done, shorty," he praised. "That was impressive."

Flash Bang puffed her chest plate out proudly. "Nailed it," she giggled. Gearshift shook his head, but his grin didn't fade.

"One major part of being a ninja is _honour," _he told her. "You, Flash Bang, are full of pride, which is normal for someone your age, but that's beside the point. You must learn humility if you want to be a ninja."

Flash Bang folded her arms and pouted. "But I don't _want _to be a ninja; I just want to be able to _fight."_

"So you can go and be a hero of the war?" Gearshift asked, more sombre than he was before. "There is nothing glamorous about war, Flash. It's a mess – a big, _sticky _mess. Anyone who wants to be right in the middle of it is out of their processor."

Flash Bang looked down at the floor, a light scowl on her faceplate. But she didn't argue. She'd been sparked into a world where war was just about everything. Cybertron had fallen into hard times since her protorming, two and a half million stellar cycles ago. Flash Bang was still young, still had a lot to learn about the world and about herself. But she was strong, wilful, determined – she knew she could go far but she didn't understand her own limits.

Mercury entered the training room then, wearing a satisfied smile. Gearshift turned to her. "You seem happy. How was the race?"

"That mech Blurr is a marvel," she said, waving a servo dramatically. "He just cannot be beaten! He makes a show of it, scares his fans a little, but then makes a dramatic finale of it all with an amazing win every time!"

Gearshift put his servos on his waist, smirking. "Well, whilst you were falling in love with _racers," _he spat the word, "our little Flash Bang sowed up her old mech."

"I'm not little," Flash Bang interjected.

"Oh, you managed to catch him off guard, or was it more impressive than that?"

"I used his force against him – you know the whole thing where you use your opponent's strength against them? Well, seeing as Gearshift is _way _stronger than me, I made him stumble by letting go of a bo staff he was trying to pull out of my servos. It unbalanced him and I managed to hit him!"

Flash Bang was an overly talkative young thing, too, and could be _very _opinionated. But regardless of what she did or said, her creators could tell that her spark was always in the right place.

The three went into the living room for some down time, Flash Bang snuggling in between her creators as they turned on the entertainment suite. The screen flickered on with the credits for a game show – a rerun, an attempt to persuade the world that everything was alright by giving them something they were familiar with and could enjoy. It didn't work on Mercury or Gearshift, but Flash Bang was easily suckered in by such things. But she was young and naive, how could anybot blame her?

The news came on, starting with the usual updates on the war before turning to a segment called "Iacon Today". Gearshift usually dozed into a light recharge during Iacon Today, but the first report it showed had him on his support servos with his optics wide in shock.

"Lockdown, one of Iacon's own Cyber Ninjas, has been found guilty of murder in cold blood," the reporter said. "At the cost of his arm, he killed one of his fellow ninjas, a courageous bot named Devcon, a true Autobot and hero to us all."

Gearshift couldn't believe what he was hearing! Lockdown was no _murderer! _But Devcon was dead? The one bot who knew his secret _and _could cause trouble with it... was dead? Was this a coincidence? Lockdown had never had the best relationship with any of the other ninjas, but Devcon had really wound him up for some reason. But no matter how he put it together in his processor, nothing about the situation made any clear sense.

He had to talk to Lockdown.

"Gearshift, I know what you're thinking," Mercury said softly. "I'm shocked, too, but Lockdown was never the best of bots."

"But he's my _friend, _Mercury," Gearshift said quietly. "Killer or not, I am meant to stand by him."

"Like he always has with you?" Mercury said pointedly. "I won't say he that wasn't a good friend to you, but I will point out how much trouble he got you in over the stellar cycles."

Flash Bang had scooted forwards to watch the entertainment news whilst her creators bickered. As talented she was at being a ninja, she also held a steadfast fascination with the entertainment industry. But Gearshift simply stood, silent, his jaw set as he tried to make sense of this turn of events.

"I have to go," he murmured. "To the dojo. I have to find out what really happened."

Mercury pursed her lip modules, but nodded silently. "Go on, then. Before I find a reason to make you stay."

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><p><strong>This whole thing with Devcon was not in my original notes... Yay for not following the plan! <strong>**:D**

**Please review!**

**:D**


	22. He Always Had Mercury

**I'm so sorry I didn't post last week! I'd had a really tiring weekend and I just didn't want to write :(**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

**:D**

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><p><span>Chapter Twenty-Two: He Always Had Mercury<span>

Gearshift rolled up to the dojo steadily, noting the crowd of bots stood outside the building, yelling and shouting and crying. They were hammering on the doors, demanding the attention of those within. Was this all for Devcon? Or were the bots here furious over Lockdown's betrayal? Gearshift transformed and made his way to the side of the building, where he scaled the wall expertly, leaping from foothold to foothold and flipping onto the roof. He made his way across the roof, heading for a large window that was always left open. He made a dash for the window, dropping into a slide as he neared the opening and falling into the gap. He landed gently on the ground below, his support servos not making the slightest sound as they came into contact with the cool metal. Most of the other ninjas were in there, arguing amongst themselves. Yoketron was nowhere to be seen.

"Gearshift!" one of the others yelled out. "How _good_ of you to show your faceplate."

"You've got some nerve showing up," another spat, glowering darkly at the green and white mech. Gearshift stared back, completely dumbfounded, his servos raised as if to calm those before him.

"What have _I _done?" he demanded. The second ninja scoffed.

"You're Lockdown's friend, _aren't you?" _he hissed. "How do we know that you weren't in on Devcon's murder?"

Gearshift was furious. How could he be blamed? He hardly spent any time with Lockdown anymore – the two had drifted apart since Gearshift had bonded with Mercury, not that the ninjas knew that to be the reason. For all they knew, Lockdown and Gearshift had just naturally grown apart over time, realising that neither was a good influence on the other. But Gearshift knew the other ninjas had never been fond of him, regardless of his friendship with Lockdown. Gearshift was just an undesirable piece of rubbish that drifted into the dojo one afternoon.

But despite all the tensions and unspoken mistrust, Gearshift forced himself to remain calm in the face of this unnecessary judgement. "So I am guilty by association, or do you have evidence that I had a servo in it?" he hissed.

The two ninjas who had been so brash backed off slightly, but still glowered with undisguised hatred as they took a step back from him. "This isn't over," one murmured. It looked to Gearshift like he may have made a move, but the door to Yoketron's personal chambers opened and the mech himself stepped out. His faceplate was as expressionless as ever, nothing about him giving away the tearing pain inside of him. Devcon had been one of his greatest students, and he had looked upon the younger ninja as if he were his own creation. Gearshift knew he was going to end up having a _long _conversation with Yoketron over Lockdown, one that would probably result in Gearshift getting whacked over the cranial unit for being too brazen.

The crowd of ninjas roared at the sight of their master, demanding to know of Lockdown's fate. Many were yelling for his death, but the older, more astute ninjas remained calm and stayed quiet. Gearshift was grateful for that, but knew full well they weren't doing it for his sake. It was simply how they were, how _all _of them should have been. But no, war, youth and general recklessness were a powerful combination.

After observing the rowdy crowd for a few moments, Yoketron raised a servo, calling for silence. "Lockdown has shamed us," he said, steadily. "But his fate is not in our servos. This is a matter for the Autotroopers, not us. Lockdown is secured in the stockade and there he shall remain. This matter is to be dropped immediately."

"But Lockdown _murdered _Devcon!" one ninja shouted. "He killed one of the greatest bots here _and _brought shame to the Cyber Ninja Corps. His fate should be ours to decide!"

"Even if it were," Yoketron began, "I would have him sent to the stockade to rust rather than execute him. We only kill Decepticons, Lockdown is by no means an Autobot – not anymore – but he has never once pledged allegiance to the Decepticons."

"As far as any of us know!" another ninja shouted. "Gearshift would know! We should interrogate him! Find out what he knows!" The other ninjas called out in agreement and Gearshift found himself slinking backwards, pressing himself against the wall in the hopes that it would swallow him whole.

"_Enough!" _Yoketron demanded and instantly the ninjas fell silent. "All of you go. Go to your home, your quarters, and rest. This has been a long solar cycle and your immature arguing and digit pointing is not going to make it any better. We are all grieving this turn of events and it is making us all needlessly angry. Rest your chassis and your processor and return in better spirits tomorrow."

Reluctantly, the ninjas filed out one by one, forcing themselves through the crowd still standing outside the dojo. Gearshift remained where he was, thinking through whether he should hang back and talk to Yoketron or, as his master had commanded, go home. But it was just as he began to move towards the door that Yoketron spoke.

"Gearshift," the old mech said softly. "I do not believe you had any part in Devcon's murder, but if you know anything of what happened, please, tell me."

Gearshift looked at his master, but remained silent, thinking things through. Lockdown had known of his family, he'd even met Flash Bang when she was still very little, not that Mercury had been particularly happy when Gearshift had entered the club with Lockdown in tow one evening with the intent of showing off his little creation to his old friend. But Lockdown had never known that Devcon had found out about Mercury and Flash Bang, so surely keeping Gearshift's secret was not Lockdown's motive? Lockdown wasn't the kind to murder a bot for the sake of someone else's secret. But then, what _was _Lockdown's motive?

"No, sensei," Gearshift replied quietly. "I have no idea."

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><p>Mercury didn't know what to say or to do for Gearshift. The moment he had returned home that night, he had sat down on the sofa and dropped his cranial unit into his servos. He hadn't moved since, and it was over a megacycle later. Flash Bang was with some friends of hers, having a little party, leaving the two older bots alone. But Mercury almost wished their little one was there. Her very presence could bring a smile to Gearshift's faceplate, but Mercury's way of comforting her bondmate was through words, not actions. But what could she say to make the sense of betrayal, the lack of trust, the <em>pain <em>all go away? She moved to kneel before him, putting a servo against his faceplate. He loved when she did that; he would always push his faceplate into her servo and enjoy the gentle touch of her digits. It always reminded him that he had something wonderful, even if the rest of his life felt bleak of miserable, he always had Mercury.

But now he wasn't so sure; resisting the urge, the_ instinct_ to nestle into her servo. Was she truly safe? Was _Flash Bang_ safe? Would they be able to go on after all was said and done, safe and happy and content with their lives? Gearshift felt a rising uncertainty build up in him the more he thought about it, but he knew he would do everything within his power to protect his family, to keep the love of his life and his blessed creation safe. But Devcon's death and Lockdown's fall from grace had shaken him, leaving him unsure of just about everything.

"Whatever happens," Mercury said quietly, "I'll stick by you. Nothing, and I mean _nothing, _can make me turn away from you now, Gearshift. I may not have any training in combat like you do, but I' not completely helpless. I will do everything within my power and more to help you. You just need to ask me."

Gearshift leant forwards quickly and kissed her firmly before wrapping his arms around her slender chassis. He didn't want to let her go, ever. He wanted to steal her and Flash bang away, leave Iacon, leave _Cybertron. _They could go and find a new life out amongst the stars, hide from the war and the world and the Autobots and the Decepticons. He wanted so badly to just leave it all behind.

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><p><strong>iI knew this fic was going to be a lot longer than my previous ones, and the diddy chapters probably don't help with that, but hey! :D<strong>

**Anyway, please review!**

**:D**


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